Lollipops and Chainsaws
by Dlbn
Summary: There was no way a classic 'bad boy' such as himself would fall for a classic 'goody-two-shoes' like me. But that didn't stop me from dreaming... Thiefshipping
1. Criminal

Dlbn: Hey everyone, and welcome to my first YuGiOh fanfic ever.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own YuGiOh or any characters contained within. They all belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of the writing of this fanfic.

000

There was no way a guy like me could get anywhere near a guy like him. He was a bad boy in every way. From the dark expression he always wore on his pale face, down to the long black trench coat the billowed when he walked. As for me? From blonde hair to lilac eyes, and down to muscle bearing tank top, I was nowhere near the bad boy he was. I mainly associated only one person; innocent little Ryou. He, on the other hand, joined forces with dark featured Yami, and a sticky-fingered teen by the nickname of "Thief". To this day, I didn't know what Thief's real name was. But he was a thief, so that name fit perfectly and was never questioned. I swear I heard Bakura refer to him as Diabound once, but that didn't mean much. The white haired male was always coming up with strange names for other people.

Ever the strange one, Bakura was the one of that gang that I had fallen so gracelessly for. Maybe it was that know-a-juicy-secret smirk he constantly wore. Maybe it was the glint in his eyes whenever someone would challenge him; either academically in the classroom or physically in the hallways and parking lot. Maybe it was that haunting laugh that never ceased to send chills down my spine whenever I had the honor of hearing it. Or, maybe, it was the one day he had bothered to assist me when the bullies had decided that Ryou and I were their next targets. Ryou tried to talk me out of my love for him.  
_You'd only get hurt_. He'd tell me. _You gotta be careful, Marik! You know what those guys are like! One wrong move, and you're in deep trouble.  
_

But despite his pleas, I just couldn't curb the terrible longing I felt for the slightly older boy. Ryou understood it and backed away, but it didn't stop him from warning my brother Odion and sister Ishizu of it. Both of them tried to talk me out of it as well.  
_What would mom think if she knew you had feelings for that?_ Ishizu would try to tug at my heartstrings at mentioning of our late mother. _What you need to do is find a nice girl and let her into your life. Not Mr. Principal's Office Permanent Resident_.  
Okay, so maybe it was the 'Bakura's a guy' thing that bothered her a little more then it bothered Ryou or Odion. Whatever. Not her decision.  
_If he gets in trouble when you're with him, you're going down too._ Odion would try a rational argument to get me to change my mind. Captain of the debate team, he figured it would work on everyone he came into contact with. _Think about your future._

I was sixteen. My future wasn't a main concern of mine, but I gave him points for trying. At least no one had told me father. I'd surely get my perfectly sculpted ass handed to me for this. Father didn't approve of me or my siblings dating until we were either out of high school or out of the house. I wonder if he'd have a different opinion if my mother hadn't died…

000

Hearing my name, I snapped out of my reverie. Other students snickered around the room as our study hall monitor glared at me over the top of her reading glasses.

"Oh…" I blushed. "Um…here…"

"Stoner…" Someone muttered.

I glared in the direction of the words and caught Seto Kaiba, resident rich boy, laughing. I offered him the slightest motion of my middle finger in response. Someone kicked the back of my chair and I turned slightly. Bakura was behind me, scowling. "What?" He wondered.

"Sorry." I muttered quickly. "I thought you needed something…"

Bakura laughed once, one side of his mouth popping into a smile. "What in the world would I need form you?" He wondered, folding his arms behind his head as he leaned back.

From his sides, Thief and Yami chuckled as well, sending looks in my direction, intended to frighten me. They didn't scare me, but I'd pretend they did for my own sake. I gave them both a half smile and turned back to the papers on my desk. I was intending to start on my math homework, but there was no way I could concentrate now. A pencil poked me in the arm and I turned to see Ryou smiling sweetly at me, eyes wide like a deer's.

"Hey, Marik?" He wondered softly. "What did you get for number two?"

"I didn't do it yet." I sighed. "Give me a second."I did the problem quickly. "Seven."

"That's what I got too." Ryou beamed. "Thanks."

I nodded my response and got back to work on the paper. Bakura pushing against my chair with his foot didn't help my concentration. Hot he may have been, but the guy was still an ass.

"Do you _mind_?" I snapped at him softly, not turning.

He stopped. "What did you say, Malik?"

"Marik." I corrected without thinking.

Sure, he was just making a joke out of the 'l confused for an r' thing in Japanese, but it was annoying. My name was Marik, damn it, and he knew it. No reason to use the incorrect spelling.

"Excuse me?" Bakura wondered. I heard the desk creak as he leaned forward and gripped the ends of it. I could feel his warm breath on my ear. "Did you just correct me?"

"I think Fruitcake's growing a pair." Thief chuckled.

I turned and threw a glare in his direction, but he laughed. "Don't call me that." I ordered, before looking back at Bakura. "Yeah, I corrected you. Big deal. My name's _Marik_, not _Malik_."

Bakura glared back at me, our faces inches apart. His eyes glittered dangerously. "I _know_ what your name is, smart one." He said. "You obviously don't understand how things work around here, do you? You've been here long enough to know better."

I rolled my eyes. I had come to Japan two years ago, but people still referred to me as 'the new kid' and figured that I didn't understand Tokyo as well as I should have. I was from _Egypt_, not another damned planet. I wondered if Bakura had the same issue when he moved here from Britain. Perhaps that was why he adopted the complete asshole personality he seemed to be oh-so gifted with.

"Know better?" I huffed. "Know better then to what? Stand up to you?"

Bakura chuckled. "You have balls, kid. I like that."

"In more ways then one." Yami snickered.

Bakura's eyes flickered in his direction, and one side of his lip shifted up. "Asshole." He told his friend, before sitting back in his chair. He crossed his legs in front of him and his arms across his chest. "Fine, you win this round, _Malik_." He let the name roll off of his tongue. "But watch your back. Got it?"

I huffed again, blowing my creamy bangs from my eyes. "Whatever, Bakura." I turned back to my paper and caught Ryou staring at me; wide-eyed and slack-jawed. "What?" I asked him.

"Are you _insane_?" He hissed at me, shielding his mouth from Bakura and his gag's view. "You know what he can do to you? You've heard the rumors…"

His chair was kicked by Yami, but he didn't respond to it. I noticed a disappointed glint in Yami's eyes when Ryou didn't snap at him like I had snapped at Bakura. Was he looking for a fight or something?

"I know." I whispered back. "But I'm not letting them treat me like that just because I'm technically a foreigner."

Ryou rolled his eyes. "Just be _careful_ okay?"

I nodded my promise before turning back to my desk. Though Bakura had resumed kicking my chair, the algebra in front of me was calling my name.


	2. Why Do I Love You?

Dlbn: Hey everyone, and welcome back!

Nbld: Thank you to SailorDeathMoon and OmniSilver for reviewing! Pocky for you both! (Hands out pocky)

SailorDeathMoon: Aw thank you! That means a lot! Glad you enjoyed!

OmniSilver: The title is one of my favorite parts of this fic, actually ^^ Glad you enjoyed!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own any characters or things from the YuGiOh franchise! They all belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of the writing of this here fic.

Lunch was perhaps the most traumatizing period in the day. Sure, Ryou and I were able to sit and talk and not care who heard. But it was also the time for the bullies to go after whomever, so cliché, I know. It was also the time for Bakura and his gang to roam the halls and causing hell. There were always monitors rushing around to respond to what Bakura and the other two were doing or a fire drill because one of them hadn't completely snuffed out a cigarette in the men's room. Ishizu and Odion shied away from Ryou and me during lunch; the complete opposite of the way they were at home. At home, Odion would practically be up my ass, no pun intended, and Ishizu would be bitching at us for leaving a mess. Then father would come home and we'd all shut up until he passed out in his room from a combination of a long day and one-two-many beers. I didn't mind when he came home and passed out. It was when he'd call me or Odion to the bar to pick him up. I hated it down there. Drunken assholes would always grab at me, either my arms or my ass, and I'd have to laugh it off instead of knocking them out with their own almost empty bottle of choice. When Odion went, it wasn't a big deal. The nights when I had to go were horrible.

"My father said we might go on vacation to the old lake house again over spring break." Ryou spoke in between sips of his home-brought sandwich. "Wanna go with us if we do?"

"Sure." I shrugged one shoulder.

He knew I'd go anyway. It was a good chance to get away from my embarrassing, dysfunctional family, and instead spend too much time with Ryou's embarrassing, dysfunctional family. Plus, we were the only friends we had. We stuck together through everything. From Ryou's mom passing shortly after I moved to town, to my father losing his job last year and having to go to a minimum wage job this year to avoid the poorhouse.

Ryou grinned. "I knew you would. I don't even know why I ask anymore. I should just _tell_ you that you're going."

"Hey, mind if we sit here?" A chipper voice asked from my left.

I looked over to find Yugi Moto and his too-close-to-only-be-siblings older brother Atem. Yugi's best friends-Joey Wheeler, Tristain Taylor, and Tea Gardner-followed behind like loyal puppies. Joey's little sister, Serenity, was friends with my sister and her crew, but we didn't really interact. The other tables must have been full for them to ask to sit.

"Sure, go ahead." Ryou answered before I could, smiling at them.

"Thanks." They spoke as a unit and sat to our left, taking up the rest of the table.

"You're insane, you know that, Marik?" Joey wondered. His accent distinguished him as a foreigner as well; I believe he's from the United States. However, he'd been here since he was in second grade and didn't have to deal with other's ignorance any more. "Standing up to Bakura like that."

"Hey, someone has to." I told him. "Besides, I don't think he'll do anything to me."

"He's done crazy stuff to people before." Tristan informed. "Rumor has it; he put some guy in the hospital for attempting to against him."

"Really?" Ryou whispered, shocked.

My best friend he was, but he was a naïve little thing at times.

"Just a rumor, Ryou." I told him. "You can't believe everything you hear."

"Marik-kun is right!" Tea grinned. "I also heard that Bakura was…well…"

"What?" I wondered, as Ryou and I leaned close to hear her.

"Well…" She looked around before shielding her hand from the other side of the table. "Gay." She whispered.

"What?" I wondered, hoping to Ra that my intrigue wasn't showing. "Really?"

I had always hoped that he was, but knew that he probably wasn't. I had to be a bit of a realist about these things, considering I was ignoring the reality of my dangerous crush.

"I thought you can't always believe what you hear?" Atem wondered, chuckling. "You seem interested in this one."

"It's one I haven't heard before is all." I said, sitting back. "Don't look too far into it."

When he was sure the others weren't looking, Ryou shot me a wink. I glared at him.

"I don't think he is." Yugi said softly. "I just…can't see it."

"You may not be able to envision it, but that doesn't mean that it's not possible." Atem winked at his brother.

Yugi flushed crimson, and I was sure there was something between the two of them.

"I guess…" The younger Moto brother muttered. "But still…"

"I could see it." Ryou nodded. "I mean, it explains the acting out stuff."

"What do you mean?" Tristan asked.

I prayed to Isis this time that my best friend had enough of a brain to keep my crush secret. It was bad enough my siblings knew, let alone these four.

"Well, if he's in denial of it, which I would be sure he would be if he is gay, then he's acting out in order to avoid having to deal with it." Ryou shrugged. "Simple psychology."

"Eh?" Joey wondered, scratching at his bangs. "I don't get it."

"Idiot." Tristan said, slapping him on the back of his head.

"Hey!"

"What Ryou means is that he's acting out and causing trouble, because being I trouble is a distraction. And not wanting to face his sexuality, he needs a distraction as often as possible." I was used to translating Ryou's sometimes airheaded or over the top talk.

He was smart, alright, but that didn't mean that people were his forte. They weren't mind either, but I at least knew how to converse with them. I did have friends back in Egypt. They all just…forgot about me after I left…Some friends.

"Oh, I gotcha." Joey nodded once.

"You're an idiot, Wheeler." Kaiba commented as he passed.

"What did you say, Rich Boy?" Joey sneered.

"You heard me." Kaiba continued on his way, ignoring Joey's shouts of protest as Tristan and Atem tried to hold him back.

Tea put her head in her hands and shook her head. Yugi muttered something inaudible to Joey, trying to calm him down. Ryou chuckled at the obnoxious display of Joey's attitude, but I found it rather annoying. He should just grow up. Kaiba was only trying to get a reaction.

"Sorry." Mokuba Kaiba, Kaiba's little brother, muttered as he passed, chasing after his brother. Their half brother, Noah, chased after him as well. The younger Kaiba brothers didn't like him much, but he was the first born of their father, and they were just adoptees.

"They better be careful or people are going to start thinking they're making a conga line." A voice I loved hearing spoke from behind me.

I looked up to see Bakura and his two idiots standing next to the table. Bakura was taking a bite out of a red apple, juices dripping down his chin. I longed to lean over and lick it off, but I couldn't do that. Not with my crush being so secret and…well…that being so inappropriate in a school setting. My heart skipped a beat.

"Um…do you need something, Bakura…?" I wondered, twisting a piece of my flaxen hair between my fingers out of habit.

"Yeah. You and me. Talk. Hall. Now."

"I prefer intelligent conversations." I informed. "Speak in full sentences." Despite my words, I stood up to join him anyway.

Ryou grabbed my school uniform sleeve. "Marik…" He started to warn me.

I looked across the cafeteria towards Ishizu, who was glaring at me and shaking her head. I spotted Odion, but he wasn't paying attention to what the school's rock-bottom-bad and loners were doing together. Great, I'd hear an earful from her if I went with him. And from Ryou too, because he liked to jump on the 'scold Marik's poor decision making' bandwagon with my siblings.

"It's fine." I smiled innocently at Ryou. "You and I both know I can handle myself."

That made Thief and Yami laugh for a minute. Bakura turned to his goons. "You two stay here. I can handle this myself."

"Whatever you say, Bakura." Yami shrugged.

I thought it was eerie that he looked very similar to me, albeit with a different hairstyle and a psychotic streak the length of the Great Wall. But my siblings, and father when he was sober in the beginning, assured me that there was no relation.

Thief shrugged. Come to think of it, he bared strange resemblance to Bakura, as did Ryou, but there was no relation between the three of them either. It was strange. Thief had a jagged scar through his left eye, though he would never explain it, and skin the same tone as mine. That made it easy to distinguish between him and Bakura. Bakura had no scars and was pale. His hair was a bit wilder then Ryou's, but that was where the differences ended. Other then Bakura always wearing that trench coat of his.

"Are you in a walking coma or something?" Bakura snapped his fingers in my face. "Let's go before we run out of time."

"Okay, okay." I agreed, trailing after him.

I couldn't help but notice the slight sway of his hips as he walked. Though he was a jackass and an obvious trouble maker, buy the Gods of Egypt, he was hot. I followed him, almost blindly, into the hall and down to the gym.

"Why are we going this far down?" I wondered.

"Just wanted to talk where no one can bother us." He shoved his hands in his uniform pants. "Is there a problem?"

"No, just wondering." I spoke quickly.

He huffed. "You had a lot more gall in study hall then you do now. No friend to show off to?"

I pouted. "I could ask you the same thing." My little pout quickly faded into a complete frown when he turned to face me.

"Shut up." He ordered. "I don't need my friends constantly."

"Then why are you always with them?"

"More people, more mischief." He shrugged one shoulder, and I swore I was seeing a shyer, gentler side to him. It was masked quickly though by one of his signature scowls. "It's simple math. Something I've been told you're very familiar with."

"…Did you pull me out of lunch and out of hearing range to ask me for math help or something?" I wondered. Maybe he'd heard that our teacher had asked me to tutor after school.

"No!" He answered too quickly, face flushed.

As quickly as the twinge of color appeared on his cheeks, it was gone.

"So…what is it then…?" I wondered.

Hr gave me his typical smirk and beckoned me a little closer. Warily, I took a few steps to lessen the distance between himself and I.

"Yes, Bakura?" I wondered, hoping I wasn't blushing at being so close.

"Did you know, Marik…?" He asked, leaning close enough to my ear to nibble at it.

"Did I know what?"

"That pissing me off is a _very_ bad idea?"

"Huh?"

Before I had time to contemplate his words, I felt his fist go straight into my gut. I doubled over, letting out an 'oomph' of protest. Once he removed his fist from my stomach, I crossed my arms over it and hugged myself. I didn't fall to my knees, though, because it would put me in perfect kick-in-the-face distance. Bakura huffed.

"You made an idiot out of me in there." Bakura walked behind me and knocked me over with one kick of his left foot.

I fell to the floor with a thud and spread my body out a little. What the fuck was this guy's problem? So I embarrassed him, big deal! He did it to me all the time.

"Are you serious?" I wheezed, looking up at his neutral, schooled features.

He shrugged indifferently. "Yea, I am. Big deal. What are you going to do about it?" He scoffed at me. "It's not like anyone's going to come and help you."

Finally, I realized why he wanted to go so far away. There were no gym classes at this time, so there would be no one to hear us. I should've listened to Ryou's warning. But, once again, love blinded me into thinking that there was no way Bakura would hurt me. Stupid heart, making my brain think stupid shit. I groaned at my stupidity. I felt Bakura's foot rest lightly on my side and looked at him.

"What? You're going to beat the shit out of me now or something?"

"Well, I've got to rough you up a bit. Don't want people thinking I'm going soft." He sighed quietly. "It's such a shame I have to do this. I actually admire you, Marik…"

"Admire me?" I wheezed.

He nudged me to the side with his toe before putting his foot on my knee.

"Perhaps it's not the right word…" He trailed. "But yes, in a way."

"W-Why?" I wondered. Why would the school's self appointed top bad boy admire sweet little straight edge me?

"You have balls." He said. "Guts. Not many people would take me head on like you do."

I suppressed a giggle at how erotic it sounded. Bakura seemed to notice because he gave me a disgusted look. "With you? Yeah right." He rolled his eyes.

With that, he placed his foot firmly on my stomach and pressed. Hard. I sucked in air as he moved his foot and let me breathe again. I turned into a basic fetal position to protect myself. At least he'd had the decency to step on my stomach and not smash my balls to pieces.

"I wasn't assuming." I huffed, the words coming out strangled. "It just didn't sound right."

His face fell for a moment before his signature scowl picked up. "You're probably heard the rumors going around, hm? Assume they're right like everyone else does?" Instead of kicking me again, he punched a locker. A loud metallic clang resounded through the hall. "Great. How in the world are people supposed to fear me if they think I'm so weak and self-conscious that I'd have to hide something like _that_? And why does my sexuality matter, anyway?!"

"You've…I've never seen you with a girl."

He scowled down at me, before kneeling at my side. "What girl would want to come near my anyway?" He asked.

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to answer that one, so I wisely didn't. He reached down and ran his finger through my blonde hair, eliciting a moan from me. I bit it back as he retracted his hand.

"I've always wondered…about you, though…"

"Me…?"

"Are you?" He grabbed my chin and forced me to look up at him.

When I didn't respond, he responded to my silence by slapping me and letting me go. My head fell and cracked on the tile. I saw dots swirling through my vision. Great, just what I needed. Poor vision and/or a concussion for the rest of the day. And all because I took a stand against the apparently prideful and vain Bakura? Shit.

"Am I what?" I asked him.

"Gay, moron." He sneered.

"If I was, I hardly see how it's your business." I said. "Same as it's not my business what you prefer to screw."

He flushed, but it faded quickly again. How was he able to do that? "I suppose it's not my business. But it would…satisfy my curiosity."

"Yami seems to be convinced that I am."

I remembered, and sneered at the thought of, Yami calling me 'Fruitcake' earlier. Just another name to add to the myriad of things he called me. I remembered 'cream puff', 'chibi', and 'lollipop' amongst a few others.

"So's Thief. What's your point?"

Did everyone think I was? Not that I wasn't or anything, but still. I didn't think people cared enough to actually wonder or talk about me of all people…

"Have no point, I guess…" I didn't want to tell him the real reasoning

_Sure, Marik, so if you ever end up with him, you can build your relationship on a lie. Very nice._ Sometimes my conscious came up to yell at me at the worst opportune times.

Bakura grabbed me by the upper arm and hauled me to my feet. I cried in protest a little as he lifted me, his fingernails digging into the tanned flesh and leaving marks. I pulled away from him and he slammed an elbow into my back. I fell forward a little, but I kept my balance. I slapped his retreating arm away with my arm. When he went to grab my other arm, I swung down and landed a slight punch right into his gut. He grunted and pushed me back, making me skid on the tile. My sneakers squeaked as I tried to prevent myself from falling. One minute he was being sweet and slightly tender, the next he was resuming his beating the shit out of me? Was the guy I was in love with a psychopath or something? I knew he was, but part of my mind didn't want to believe it. That was the part that would get me into trouble in the future.

I was snapped from my thoughts by a cold-clock in the jaw.

"You pick the worst times to fade out of life, Marik." Bakura chuckled. "Come on, stand up and fight me like a man. Or…whatever you are."

I sneered and went to punch him, but he caught my fist and sucker punched me in the stomach. When I doubled over, he chuckled and came closer to grab me. I saw his feet approach and rammed my head into his stomach, slamming him into the lockers behind me. He grabbed both of my shoulders and pushed me away. He gave a swift kick to my knees and made me fall to them. Before I could move to hit him again, he slammed his elbow into my back and knocked me down. I tried to get up, but he stepped on my back with one foot and kept me plastered to the ground. I didn't bother trying to throw him off. He was too heavy. Instead, I kicked up, hoping to catch him between the legs and make him back off, but I missed and kicked him in the ass instead. He wobbled a bit, but kept his balance. He leaned down and grabbed both of my arms, holding them behind my back. My shoulders twisted painfully, and I swear I heard something pop.

"Don't underestimate me, Marik." Bakura whispered a warning into my ear, his hot breath tickling it and making me shudder. "I'm a tough little bastard." His tongue flicked against the outer shell of my ear and made me freeze.

Holding my arms back with one hand, he grabbed a fistful of my hair and slammed my forehead into the tile. I rolled over in pain as he got off of me. He wiped his hands on his uniform shirt and pulled a napkin from his pocket. He dropped it on me.

"Clean up, _Champ_." He laughed.

I listened to him walk away as I warily stood up. I checked my head for blood. Finding nothing, I wiped off the thin sheen of sweat on my face and started back to the cafeteria. The doors snapped open and Bakura briskly walked out, followed by his loyal puppy dogs. I watched them leave down the hall before making my way to the cafeteria.

When I joined Ryou and the others again at the table, Ryou clasped his hands over his mouth and gasped.

"What happened?" My friend asked me. "Did he hurt you?"

I sat down. "We…got in a fight…" A very one-sided one.

"Oh, Marik, I _told_ you to be careful! Your mouth is going to get you into trouble one day!"

Little did I know how right he was.


	3. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Dlbn: Hey there everyone! Welcome to another chapter of "Lollipops and Chainsaws"! This was a fun chapter to write. Hope ya'll like it as much as we do!

Nbld: Thank you to Debbie the Fabulous, VampirePrinssess, Annzy Bananzy, and SailorDeathMoon for reviewing! Here are some lollipops for you! Heh, heh. Get it? XD

Debbie the Fabulous: I'm not used to writing in first person. Thanks, that means a lot :) Thank you! You stay fabulous as well!

VampirePrinssess: He definitely is a sexy little bastard *drools* Uh…I mean….he's a sexy bastard…XD Glad you're enjoying!

Annzy Bananzy: Their relationship will sure be a complicated one, that's for sure ;) Why are you apologizing? There's nothing to apologize for ^^ Glad you're enjoying as well!

SailorDeathMoon: Glad you like! Aw thank you! (Takes gold star) I am honored. If Bakura was here, I'm sure I'd be latched onto him and never let go, myself XD

Disclaimer: I do NOT own YuGiOh, any member of the Ishtar family, Bakura, or any other related characters, places, things, and themes. That all belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. I do NOT make any money off of writing this. I just have fun.

000

Odion was the one called to retrieve my inebriated father from the disgusting bar he got wasted in. at first, I was happy when Ishizu announced that Odion had to pick up the drunk. Then I realized that it meant I was going to be stuck at home with Ishizu. Alone. And she had seen me talking to Bakura. And leaving with him. And returning. Shit. I waited about ten minutes after Odion left for Ishizu to come barreling into my room, not knocking as usual. However, I was surprised when her knuckles rapped against the door before she opened it. I didn't bother looking up from the homework I was finishing, sitting cross-legged on my bed. I felt the bed move as she sat down next to me and touched my knee. My lilac eyes shifted from the book in my lap to her matching eyes. She didn't look too happy.

"Why were you talking to him today?" She asked.

"Who?" I played stupid.

"Bakura." She responded, with a roll of her eyes. "Who else do you think I meant? Yugi and his crew?

"Why does it matter?" I wondered, going back to my work.

Her hand slapped my book shut. "Look, Marik…"

I groaned, knowing that an annoying speech was coming up. I knew what she was going to say before she did. It was always the same speech, with little variants dependant on the situation. She'd tell me that I was a bright kid with a good future ahead of me, and that Bakura was a moron with no future. She'd then say that she would rather die then let me ruin my life by associating even briefly with the loser. Then she'd tell me that she 'understands' that I like him, but that I need to find a nice girl to go out with and forget about him.

"You're a bright kid. You've got a lot going for you." Ishizu started. "You're nice to everyone, you're good in school, you're good looking…"

I blinked. So what? Looks weren't everything, Ishizu.

"But Bakura…he's…he's bad news." She went on. "You know some of the rumors. And even if you didn't, you're smart. You can figure out just by being in his classes or looking at him. He and his cronies are always up to no good. You don't want to get dragged into that." She shook her head. "I understand that you like him. I really do. I don't understand the attraction, because he has _no_ redeeming qualities, but I understand that it's your feelings that you can't change. But what you need isn't him. What you need is a nice girl who will bring you up and root for, and help you achieve, the best possible future."

I didn't interrupt her, though I was about to break the wooden number 2 pencil in my hand. I must have been the only kid at school without a mechanical one.

"You understand what I mean, Marik?" She blinked. "Are you even listening to me."

"I heard you loud and clear, Ishizu." I spoke through gritted teeth. "It's the same speech you give me every time he comes up in conversation. Mostly by your doing, I might point out."

She shook her head. "Bakura is bad news, and you know it." She said. "So why did you talk to him earlier? Why did you _follow_ him? I know he beat you up…"

"We fought."

"Pretty one-sided fight."

"I got in a good punch."

Technically it was a head-butt, but who was counting?

"One good punch won't take him down, it will only egg him on." She sneered. "I swear, Marik, you don't think sometimes! For someone so bright, you sure do make boneheaded, rash, moronic decisions!"

I sneered back. "Shut up, Ishizu." I ordered. "I know what's good for me and what isn't. I was just _talking_ to him. It wasn't like I had sex with him in the janitor's closet and got caught with my pants down."

She flushed. "I don't want to know even if you did!"

"Well, I didn't, for your information."

Though it didn't sound like a bad idea…

"You need help, Marik. Serious help."

"Oh, fuck you, Ishizu." I snarled. "I know what's good for me and what isn't. You don't know what you're talking about, so just shut the hell up and leave me the fuck alone about it."

She blinked and pulled back, clutching a hand to her chest as if hurt. "Ugh. Fine!" She stood and stormed out of my room, slamming the door behind her.

I sighed and flopped back on my pillows, my arms folded underneath my head like an extra pillow. I vaguely hear the door open and my drunken father slur something about damn kids not knowing how to respect the house. I wasn't normally one to snap at my sister, and I'd probably apologize at breakfast, but I didn't really care at that moment. She had no right interfering with my life. She wanted nothing to do with me at school, so why bother being involved at home? At least Odion showed the same level of give-a-shit at home and school. Sure, he didn't sit near me at lunch, but at least he had the decency to wave or say hello when passing me in the halls, instead of ignoring me or making a show of looking away like my sister did. I knew she cared, but she had a funny way of showing it. My bedroom door opened and my drunk father stumbled in, still clutching a not quite empty bottle of liquor in his left hand. He took a long swig, some dribbling down his chin and into his beard. He didn't seem to care, and I didn't either. He scanned the room.

"Fucking dump…" He muttered.

Just like the rest of the house. I thought it, but I held my tongue. The beatings were worse when you talked back to him. Not that every night ended with a bruise, but it was enough that I noticed a pattern. Being a smart ass with him got you in the same place as being nice to Bakura got you. Nowhere.

"The school called." He slurred. "Said you were in a fight."

"I got beat up." I corrected him. "The school got it wrong."

He gave me a glare, but it was a little out of focus. "Stupid kid. You have muscles, use them."

I flushed and rubbed my upper arms subconsciously.

"Sorry." I muttered.

"What was that?" He wondered, stumbling to the edge of my bed.

"I'm sorry." I tried correcting myself.

He swiped at me, but missed.

"That's what I _thought_ you said." He took another swig of liquor. "If I get another e-embarrassing call at the office like this…" He hiccupped. "You'll be punished. Got that?"

"Yes sir." I nodded.

He turned and stumbled out the door, slamming it shut. I was vaguely aware of Ishizu's bedroom door opening, and her pleas to be left alone. Like any other night, Odion didn't man up enough to go stop our father form what he had planned for her, and I turned a deaf ear to it in order to finish up on my homework. The bastard would have it coming to him one day. I turned on my music to block out Ishizu's cries, but though I stopped my ears from hearing them, I couldn't stop my heart from aching, or my head from throbbing in memory of the last time.

000

I thought I was off the hook by the time I got to school the next day. But luck had decided to make me its bitch once again and not cut me a break. Bakura was leaning on the chain link fence surrounding the school, smoking a cigarette. He breathed out a faint ring of smoke as he held the cigarette between his fingers, arm at his side. Yami and Thief weren't around, but that wasn't a shock. They probably had detention or suspensions. But normally, when that happened, Bakura wasn't around either. Maybe he had business at the school? I hoped it wasn't me and tried to go past him, but his hand that wasn't clutching the cigarette grabbed my arm.

"Got time?" He asked.

"Ten past eight." I responded, pulling away.

I was a few steps away when I felt a hand grab at my arm once more. Bakura held onto my hand, taking a drag from his cigarette in the other hand. "I didn't want to know what time it was. I would have just said that if I did." He corrected me. "I wanted to know if _you_ had time."

"Huh?"

He shook his head. "Are you busy at the moment?"

"I have homeroom in ten minutes. So do you." I informed, trying to sound annoyed.

Truth was that the pale, cold fingers clasped oh so tightly around my wrist felt good. They sent a jolt through me that I didn't experience often. I didn't want it to stop. Didn't want him to let go. I shook my head, remembering the day before.

"I'm not falling for it again, Bakura." I peeled his fingers away, my own hand not wanting to let go of the warm appendage, though I knew I had to.

"Falling for what?"

"You ask em to talk, I go with you, you take me somewhere secluded and commence with the kicking of my ass?" I snorted. "You wish."

"It's not like that." Bakura said. "Can't I just talk to you? We won't go anywhere secluded, if it makes you feel better."

"Can't this wait?"

"Not really." Bakura took another drag from his cigarette. It was almost done for.

I coughed and brushed away the smoke. "Gross."

He gave me a look. "Grow up, Malik."

"Marik."

"There you go again, correcting me like a moron." He rolled his eyes. "Fuck, you just don't learn, do you?"

"Don't learn?" I snorted. "I'm not afraid of you, Bakura. Everyone else may be, but not me."

"Good." He spoke softly.

"What?"

"Nothing." He spoke louder, harsher. It was accentuated with an unnecessary glare of contempt. Disgust, maybe? "Look, are you going to talk to me or not?" He sounded like Ishizu.

I sighed. "Everything in me is saying not to, but I guess so."

Maybe she was right. Maybe I _was_ nice to everyone.

He grinned, showing off his straight, pearly white teeth. "Good. Come with me." He snuffed out his cigarette and threw it to the ground.

I glared at him for littering before following him off to the backside of campus.

"You said nowhere secluded." I told him.

"I lied. People do that."

I glared. "If your cronies are around, waiting to pounce…"

"It's just me." Bakura sneered. "Damn it, just trust me would you?"

"I trusted you yesterday and it got me nowhere."

He turned and glared. I saw his hand clench into a tight fist, but he slowly relaxed it instead of using it to pound my face in. "Fair enough." He said at last. He turned back the way we were heading and kept going.

At the edge of the woods, I stopped. He continued on a bit before realizing that I wasn't right behind him anymore.

"It's just me, I'm telling you." He sneered.

"We'll be late for homeroom, even if we run…"

"Does it look like I _give_ a shit?"

"I do."

He rolled his eyes. "Goody two shoes." He muttered. "What, are you chicken, Marik? Afraid to follow me?"

"No…"

He made chicken noises as he walked off.

"I'll show you chicken…" I spoke to myself, before giving chase. I was only a few lines of trees into the woods before I lost sight of him. "Bakura?" I wondered. "Bakura, where are you!" I called, cupping my hands around my mouth to make my voice louder. "Bakura! Bak-"

I was cut off as a rope grabbed me by the ankle and hauled me into the air. A net collapsed around me as well, holding me in a cocoon high off the ground. "Hey! What the hell? Damn it Bakura!"

I heard laughter and looked down. Bakura, Yami, and Thief were under me, looking up at me. Dark shades hid Yami's eyes, and Thief used his hand to block his from the sun. Bakura didn't seem to care how bright it was. Bakura laughed, head thrown back.

"So naïve, Marik!" He called to me, waving. "Did you honestly think I just wanted to _talk_?"

"Let me down you assholes!" I ordered. "Now!"

"I think he wants down." Thief chuckled. "Perhaps we should let him down…"

Bakura slapped him upside the back of the head. "Shut up." He ordered. "Why would we do that? Let's just leave little birdy in the tree, where he belongs."

Yami chuckled. "Maybe we should leave some food for him." He spoke. 'He'll be there a while."

"Who cares?" Bakura wondered. "Come on, we're late."

The bell rang in the distance as he spoke.

"See ya, Marik! We'll come get you later!"

"Maybe!" Thief added.

The three of them laughed and walked off.

"Let me down! Bastards! Assholes!" I cursed, thrashing and hoping to make the ropes let loose and drop me.

Why, oh why did I have to be nice to everyone and anyone, even if I knew they didn't deserve it?

000

It wasn't until midday that my only chance for rescue came. The gym classes were running the mile that day, and some students cut through the trees to take a break or to just take a shorter route. Luck shone down on me for a few seconds when is aw that looked like Ryou coming my way.

"Hey! Ryou!" I called. "Up here!"

Startled, he looked up. "Marik?" He asked, looking everywhere but at me.

"Straight up!"

He looked up and his jaw dropped. I wiggled my fingers in greeting.

"What are you doing up there!?" He wondered.

"Oh, you know. Just hanging around." I joked. "Get me down!"

"Oh! Um…hold on!" He followed the ropes to the tree they were attached to. He went over and pulled at the knot until it gave way.

The bottom of the net dropped out from underneath me, but the rope around my ankle held me dangling about the ground, upside-down. I sighed, brushing my curtain of blonde hair from my face.

"I'm still stuck, you know…" I informed.

Ryou reached up and grabbed my hands, pulling me down. The rope around me snapped and dropped me to the ground, right on top of him. We both fell with matching grunts. Ryou lay down and moaned.

"Damn, Marik, you're heavy." He complained.

"Glad to see you too." I slowly pushed myself off of him and sat back. "You okay?"

"I'll be fine." Ryou sat up, rubbing his head. "Are you?"

"I think so. Let the blood go back into my feet, and then I'll let you know."

"How did this happen? Who did it?"

"Who do you think? He's silver haired, a jackass, and the object of my affections."

Ryou moaned. "I _warned_ you about him! But did you listen? No! You never do!"

"Shut up." I nudged him. "You should like Ishizu."

"Good. At least one us listens to her and lets it sink in." Ryou rolled his eyes. "Your father is going to kill you for missing school. He won't care what your excuse is."

"He'll beat some 'manliness' into me, or whatever, so it won't happen again." I sighed.

"Whatever. Why would you come here with Bakura?"

"He said it wouldn't be anywhere secluded, and that he was alone in this."

"And like a moron, you listened."

I shrugged, feeling my face light up. He rolled his eyes.

"You better go to History. There's a quiz tomorrow, so Mr. Moto is going over review."

Mr. Moto was Atem and Yugi's grandfather. The old man was very friendly and liked by everyone, but we all knew his retirement was coming up soon.

"Shit." I groaned. "Alright, I'll run. Thanks, Ryou. I owe you one."

"Don't fall for his tricks again." Ryou said. "Now go."

I pat him on the back as I broke into a run, charging from the trees and startling a pack of girls in gym uniforms. I ignored them and kept running. There was no way I was missing this review.


	4. All We Want is Bad Boys

Dlbn: Hey there, everyone, and welcome to a new chapter!

Nbld: It's late for us, so we'll just cut to the chase! Thank you to VampirePrinssess, LadySunami, Pockyfeind, and AnonymousGuest for reviewing! Cookies for you all!

VampirePrinssess: He's blinded by love, I suppose. -Giggle- But he really should use his head more and notice something was fishy XD

LadySunami: He really should have. But time alone in the woods with Bakura? Who could resist? ;) Yeah, must be the hormones hehe. He better learn his lesson soon, or he'll have a hard life ahead of him XD His father needs to be destroyed. I agree completely.

Pockyfeind: Glad you enjoy! Haha I love the Abridged series ^^ But I wanted to stay in character. Mostly because the Abridged series is not mine, and I know the original stuff better.

AnonymousGuest: Glad you enjoy! Bakura's got classic 'bad boy' syndrome, I think. As for Marik, he's in love XD

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Marik, Bakura, or anyone else form the YuGiOh series. The series belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of writing this fic. I just have fun.

000

I made it to History before half of the class was over and opened the door. Everyone fell silent and stared at me as I walked in, head low. Mr. Moto smiled at me, his plum eyes twinkling.

"Late, Marik?" He wondered. "How unusual."

"He must have been hung up." Bakura's smug voice sneered.

His friends chuckled. I stopped in my tracks and glared at him. He winked and blew me a kiss. That did it! I lunged at him, being caught by Joey and Tristan before I could hit him.

"You fucking idiot!" I cursed at him. "How could you leave me hanging there?!"

Bakura put on his innocent face. "What are you talking about?" He wondered.

"You know what I mean!" I snarled. "Tricking me into following you, then getting me caught in a net and held up in the trees! You're an asshole, you know that?!"

If looks could kill, Bakura would have murdered me in a heartbeat. He was on his feet quickly, coming to a stop about an inch from my face. "It's not _my_ fault you're so naïve that you'll believe anything and everyone…"

"Boys, please stop this." Mr. Moto ordered us. "I don't want to have to send you off to Mr. Kaiba's office, now would I?"

Gozoboro Kaiba, the father of Seto, Mokuba, and Noah, was the school principal. He hated me already, and I was pretty sure that the same was true for Bakura. I didn't want to have to deal with him. I retched free from Joey and Tristan, but they stayed by my sides in case Bakura or I tried to start anything again.

"I'm not naïve." I corrected him, knowing it was probably a death wish. "You're just a smooth talking rat."

He snarled. My only warning before he lunged at me. His fist scraped the side of my jaw and sent me back into some desks. I recovered as the kids at said desks backed off, and lunged again. Bakura ducked, giving me a swift kick to the knees and making me buckle. I fell onto him and swung at him. He pushed back, shoving me back to hit a desk and pouncing on me. He went to hit me again, but Mr. Moto pulled him off.

"Bakura! Marik! That's enough now!" He ordered. "I'm sorry boys, but this is out of control. The Principal's office with both of you. Go on now."

Before anyone could speak again, I grabbed my long forgotten backpack and stormed out the door. I was vaguely aware of Bakura following me like he'd been told to do.

000

"I cannot believe the level of disrespect you two are bringing upon yourselves!" Mr. Kaiba scolded Bakura and myself. "You have no respect for your fellow classmates, your teachers, school property, or each other!"

"He started it!" I snapped. "He had a trap set up for me in the woods! I would've starved out there if Ryou hadn't heard me yelling for help. You can ask him!"

I knew Ryou would cover for me and not mention that he was taking the short path. He'd be in trouble, too, since students going into the woods behind the school was prohibited.

"Marik, this is the first time I've had to deal with you, and I'm shocked." His focus shifted to Bakura. "As for you! I've tried every punishment in the book, short of just executing you on the spot. What am I going to do with you to make you behave?"

Bakura shrugged. He was slumped down in the chair, arms folded over his chest and legs open. He seemed quite relaxed in the office.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to do something drastic." Mr. Kaiba smirked, and I was sure I was doomed. "Since you two obviously have no respect for one another, perhaps you would benefit from knowing each other a little better."

Oh shit.

"Starting today after school, every day after school this week, Bakura will spend at least three hours with you, Marik."

"What?!" I practically leapt out of my seat at the man. "Are you _kidding_ me? I can't stand him!" Not true. "And he can't stand me!" So true.

"And every day next week, Marik, you will do the same with Bakura."

"Woa, woa, woa!" Bakura corrected sitting up and throwing a hand into the air to stop anyone else from speaking. "There is _no way_ I am agreeing to that!" He stood and slammed a fist onto Mr. Kaiba's desk. He pointed back at me as he leaned closer to the man. "I can't stand the sight of him!"

That crushed me. Bakura…hated me that much? I thought it was just old fashioned schoolyard bullying. He…really hated the sight of me?

"Either you agree to this, or I'll have no choice but to report you to social services and get you placed in a foster home again." Mr. Kaiba glared at him. "Make a choice."

Again?

Bakura baked off and sank into the chair. "Fine."

"Marik? Do you agree?"

"If…If I have to…" I answered slowly. My father would _not_ appreciate a house guest.

"You do. Unless you want detention every day for the next two weeks."

"Why does he get detention and I get reported?" Bakura sneered.

"Because this is his first infraction." Mr. Kaiba said. "Don't argue with me on this, Bakura."

The younger male sat still and glared, folding his arms again. He seemed resigned to it.

"You two are to report back here after the final bell." Mr. Kaiba went on. "More then ten minutes after the bell, and the late party will suffer the alternative consequences I have outlined earlier. Understood?"

"Crystal clear." I agreed softly, shoving my hands in my pockets.

"Whatever." Bakura stood. "Can we go now?"

"Fine, get out of here. More then ten minutes post the final bell, and you'll be in trouble!"

Bakura slammed the door to his office before the words "fine" and "get". I stood slowly and trudged after him, grabbing my backpack and slugging it up onto my shoulder as I did so. Class was almost over, so I might as well just go straight to Ryou's locker to wait. No doubt, word will have traveled to the gym already, and he'd race down the hall to interrogate me any minute.

000

Ryou was at his locker before I managed to get there. He bounced on his toes when he saw me, but the expression on his face said that he wasn't very happy with me or my actions. I stopped next to him and gave him a nod as a greeting. He folded his arms and gave me his best glare, though it did nothing to intimidate me. He couldn't scare a pack of antisocial four year olds, let alone his best friend.

"Get on with it, Ryou." I told him, knowing he was just waiting for acknowledgement.

"I _told_ you not to trust him! And what do you do? You go off into the woods with him, alone, and end up in that position!" Ryou was fuming, his pale face strawberry red. "And then you go back to class, but instead of just letting it go, you attack him? Are you _insane_?!"

I shrugged. "Look, Ryou, sorry, but I couldn't help myself. The smug look on his…" Handsome face…

I wanted to say it, but I couldn't. Suppose someone heard. Rumors were something I didn't need to deal with.

"Well…I know how you can't control yourself…but still! He and is crew are going to be _after_ you like a dog after a bone!"

I rolled my eyes. "I know. Ugh…"

"So what was your punishment…?"

"He has to spend three hours for the rest of this week at my house, and I have to spend three hours every day next week at his house."

Ryou flinched. "Should I come over too?"

"No." I shook my head. "My father won't be happy that I got in a fight, let alone that we'll have a guest. Two guests? He'll blow a fuse."

"I think he's already blown his fuse, Marik…years ago…" Ryou knew just what my father was like. He was the only one I ever honestly spoke with about my father.

"I know…"

"Are you sure you don't want me to…"

"Very." I nodded once.

Ryou smirked a little. "Right…you want to be alone…"

I flushed. "That's not it!" I insisted. "I just…don't want you there when my father snaps and attacks someone. I wouldn't want it to be you that gets hurt…"

"You'd rather have him hurt?" Ryou cocked an eyebrow.

"No…but I know he can at least defend himself…"

Ryou shrugged, indifferent to the comment. He knew it was true. Before either of us could talk about the punishment anymore, I spotted my sister and her friend, Mai Valentine, stalking towards us. Guys stopped and stared at the two girls as they passed. Girls waved hello, but my sister was unseeing of them. Ryou stood sideways to allow my sister access to me when she got close enough.

"Are. You. In. _Sane_!?" She scowled at me. "You got in a fight?! With _him_ of all people?! Marik, you idiot! Dad's going to flip his shit!"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't you think I've realized that I'm boned?"

Ryou snickered, earning a glare from my sister.

"Really, Marik? A fight with Bakura?" Mai wondered, shaking her head. "You really are insane. He could kill you in a heartbeat…and probably would!"

"He didn't though." I defended. I looked to Ishizu. "You think dad will be mad about the fight? Wait until he hears about the punishment…"

"What is it…?" Ishizu asked, eyes shifting from poor Ryou to me.

I explained, and her jaw fell.

"No way! Nuh uh, not happening!" She folded her arms and shook her head fervently.

"It's either that or detention for two weeks."

"Take the detention!"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

_Either you agree to this, or I'll have no choice but to report you to social services and get you placed in a foster home again._

I couldn't let Bakura get sent to a foster home because I was afraid of my ass-hat of a father.

"I just can't."

"That's not an answer."

"I if back out now, he'll think I'm afraid of him. And I'm not." I was firm in my decision. "I'm not backing out, and that's that."

Ishizu scoffed. "You're asking for it, Marik! Come on, Mai, let's get going before we're late." She turned on her heel and stalked off.

"Nice talking to you again, Marik. Good luck." Mai quickly followed.

I sighed and looked at Ryou. "That could've been worse, right?"

"Not really." He shrugged.

"Jackass. You're supposed to tell me it could've been." I told him.

He laughed. "I tell it like it is, Marik." He informed. "I'm not sugarcoating it for you."

I laughed and wrapped an arm around his neck. "Some best friend you are."

"I know." He laughed. "Aren't I the greatest?"

"The worst."

"Hey!"

"But the best of the worse." I bopped him on the head with my fist. "Come on, let's go before we're late, too."

"Like brother, like sister." Ryou chuckled.

I frowned. Ishizu and I were two completely different people. The day I was like my sister was the day I gave up on life.


	5. Welcome To My Life

Dlbn: Hey everyone, and welcome to another chapter of "Lollipops and Chainsaws"!

Nbld: We don't have much to yammer on about tonight, so we'll get to the Review Corner, okay? It's our favorite part, anyways ^^ Thank you to Dynamite and Soup, AnonymousGuest, OtEpShAmAyA, VampirePrinssess, and Pharaoh Silver for reviewing! Brownies for you all!

Dynamite and Soup: It's true love, I tells yah XD My boyfriend and I are the same way. We fight like morons, but we really do care about each other XD Actually, that song is where both the inspiration and the title of the last chapter comes from XD

AnonymousGuest: Haha glad you enjoy XD Violent Bakura is sexy Bakura…for some strange reason XD I just wanted to throw in a little drama with it. Plus, Marik can only take so much XD It's going to be interesting what happens, I guarantee that ;)

OtEpShAmAyA: Glad you like! :D Only Bakura would pull something like that, right? Their time together will be an interesting/important part of the story ^^

VampirePrinssess: I figured it's a little different, you know? I never knew anyone punished like that before XD But the principal knows that their little…lack of getting along…is probably stemmed from them not understanding one another. What better way to learn to understand each other then to be forced to socialize with each other, right? ;) Going against Bakura is probably one of the dumbest things he's ever done. But then again, even Marik is susceptible to stupid decisions sometimes. Glad you're enjoying so far! :D

Pharaoh Silver: Glad you like ^^ Yeah, they could. But I guess they're not thinking clearly. Though, really, Marik _wants_ him to come over, so he's okay with it. as for Bakura…I'm not sure XD Plus…it's no fun for us if they just do that ;)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Marik, Bakura, or anyone else from the YuGiOh franchise. I only own a few video games and a shoe box full of cards (Yes, I actually duel XD). I make NO money off of this work of non-canon fiction.

000

After school let out, I sat in Mr. Kaiba's office and waited for Bakura to arrive. I hoped he wouldn't be late and get us both screwed over. But his negative reaction to the term "foster home" made me think he'd be right on time. It wasn't until nine minutes after the final bell rang that the door opened and Bakura sauntered in. he shut the door behind him and plopped down on the empty chair in front of the Principal's desk. The silver haired vixen put his feet on the desk and crossed them, leaning back and folding his arms behind his head. Mr. Kaiba glared at him and shoved his legs off to the side to get them off of the desk.

"Your feet don't go there, Bakura, you know this." He scolded.

Bakura shrugged. "Whatever you say." He responded. "Can we hurry up here so we can get this three hour a day thing stared and over with?"

"In a hurry to spend time with me outside of school, Bakura?" I wondered, lips curving into a smile.

He glared at me. "You wish, fruitcake."

I glared at the nickname Yami used for me more often then not. "Don't call me that fuck…"

"Marik, please!" Mr. Kaiba scolded me for my language. "Alright, look, the rules are simple. For the rest of this week, including the weekend, Bakura is to go to your house, Marik, for five hours a day."

"Wait a second!" Bakura interrupted. "Whatever happened to 'at least three hours'?"

"I changed my mind. A little more time won't kill you, Bakura."

"I have plans this weekend."

"This takes precedent." Mr. Kaiba informed. "Unless you want Social Ser…"

"Alright, fine, fine. Five hours a day before I do anything else that _I _want to do." Bakura sneered in my direction. "Got it. What else?"

"Monday morning, eight AM, you two will report to me instead of going to homeroom. Your teachers will be notified of this and you will be marked as present." Mr. Kaiba went on. "You will meet with me individually to tell me something about the experience. Then from Monday until Friday, after school, you Marik will spend five hours a day at Bakura's house. You two will report to me again the last Friday of the punishment, same time for the same purpose as Monday's meeting. Is this understood?"

"Yes sir." I said softly.

"Yeah, whatever." Bakura rolled his eyes. "Can we go now?"

"If either of you break this promise, I will be forced to take the actions I described earlier. Detention for Marik and a call to Social Services for Bakura."

Bakura flushed and stood with a snap. "Stop bringing it up." He sneered.

It was then that I learned one thing that would keep me safe for a bit. Never bring up the terms 'social services' or 'foster care' around Bakura. It would make him snap.

"Just a friendly warning, boys." Mr. Kaiba nodded and leaned back in his chair. "Go on now."

Bakura left without waiting for me. I slowly stood and trudged after him. I hoped that Mr. Kaiba didn't call my father about this. He'd no doubt react poorly, whether or not Bakura was there to witness it. Out in the hall, Bakura was waiting impatiently for me.

"About bloody time." He cursed. "Let's go. Lead the way so we can get this over with."

"Agreed." I nodded.

I didn't want it to go by quickly, but if it stopped him from being annoyed with me, and meant that he'd leave sooner so I wouldn't be embarrassed to death by my father and siblings, I'd rather have it end ASAP. If it were anyone else, I may not have cared because they'd just report my father and save me and my siblings, but this was Bakura. The guy I was almost-completely-secretly in love with since I came to this school two years ago. Considering how little he seemed to like or care about me. I didn't have the luxury of him calling the police about my situation. I had a better chance of Ryou calling on my behalf, but I knew he never would. The risk of me being taken away from him and the school was too great if he did that. Whether or not we wanted to admit it, I _was_ the only real friend he had; just as he was the only real friend I had anymore. Losing me…losing him…neither of us could bear the thought of being apart. No one understood us like each other. It sounded like a romantic thing, but I can assure you that it is not.

"Are you just going to stand there daydreaming, or are we going to go to wherever you live?"

"My house?" I wondered.

"That's what I asked, yes. Are you really this dense?" He gave me a scrutinizing look.

Asshole. But, regardless, I still loved him.

"No." I shook my head. "Come on, let's go."

I led him outside to the parking lot and over to the bike rack.

"Where are you going?" He wondered, cocking an eyebrow.

"To get my bike. I'm not leaving it here over night." I walked over to my red Suzuki Scorpion.

"Since when have you…?"

"Since always." I handed him my spare helmet. "Here. You'll need this."

He paled, but took it anyway. I put on mine and straddled the bike. Once I turned it on and made sure it was ready to go, I motioned for him to sit. He sat and wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me tight. The closeness felt good, and I felt myself flush as my pants got tighter. I hoped he didn't notice me shifting to adjust to the newfound tightness.

"Ready?" I shouted at him over the roar of the bike.

"Are you sure you're qualified to drive this thing!?" He wondered.

"Positive! Ready?!"

"Fine!"

I nodded and sped off into the streets. Cars honked as I drove and sped past, and I swear I heard Bakura cry out once too. I chuckled a bit at the thought and sped between a fast-moving semi and a slow moving two door car. My front tire bounced off of a curb I slammed into, but I kept going. I heard the flapping of Bakura's trench coat as I drove, and felt my hair shimmy a little under my helmet from the breeze. For a few moments, I didn't care that Bakura was coming over to _my_ house to spend time with _me._ Though it was forced, it was still nice. For a few moments, I didn't care what my father would say or do around Bakura. All I cared about was the ride and the seemingly tough-as-nails teenager holding onto my waist for dear life.

000

Once I pulled into the drive way to my little one story house, I felt Bakura shake slightly as he let go of me and got off the bike, crashing onto the ground. He ripped off the helmet and ran a hand through his untamed silver hair. He aimed the pointer finger on his other hand at me.

"You!" He said, breathlessly. "Are a terrible driver!"

I rolled my eyes. "A little bike ride is enough to take you down, Bakura? Sheesh, what a pushover."

That stopped his shaking. He glared up at me. "Fuck you, I'm no pansy."

"Pushover."

"Same thing!"

I rolled my eyes. No need in arguing and making the neighbors stare strangely at the British kid on the ground, and the Egyptian still straddling his motorcycle. I got off the motorcycle and pushed it into the garage, leaving Bakura where he was. I put down the kickstand and made sure my bike would stand on its own before I joined Bakura again. He was standing up now, helmet held out to me in his left hand. I took it wordlessly and threw it into the garage, skidding it on the floor.

"Let's just go inside and get this over with." I told him.

"Fine by me." He nodded. "Got food?"

I rolled my eyes. "Hardly."

He cocked an eyebrow. "What do you eat then?"

"Whatever's in the pantry, leftovers, or whatever Odion picks up after school for dinner." I shrugged.

It wasn't a big deal to me, though it seemed to be a surprise for Bakura. Then again, I'd lived like this since my mother died. Her death was what sent my father spiraling into alcoholism and, consequentially, the abuse of me and my siblings. I only hoped the old bastard didn't go into Ishizu's room while Bakura was here. I didn't want to have to explain to him why my sister was hysterically crying and begging my father to stop, and why Odion and I didn't go in there and kill him for hurting her. We were afraid to, to put it simply. There was no doubt in my mind that Odion and I could take him, but where would that leave us? Kicked out of the house and being forced to leave Ishizu in there with the monster so he could do Ra-knows-what to her and not worry about being stopped. I shuddered to think about it. I shook from my stupor before Bakura could hurl an insult at me and led him into the house.

"Pardon any messiness."

We hadn't had time to clean up after our father's drunken rant the night before. He'd smashed some things and thrown other things, left empty and half-empty beer cans and wine bottles on the floor. I was sure there were little drops of blood in various areas, if someone wanted to look hard enough to find it. When I opened the door, I wasn't too shocked to see that the place was still a mess.

"Keep your shoes on and beware of broken glass." I warned not at all embarrassed.

This was the way I lived, whether Bakura liked it or was impressed or not. It wasn't often that we had company over; due to our father forbidding it when he was sober, him freaking out when he was drunk no matter who was here, and our fear of a guest being injured by him. I think Ryou had only been to my house once, but he was so spooked he'd had to leave through my bedroom window. But he was a very tender, kind-hearted person. So him being spooked wasn't a surprise. Bakura might be able to put up with it better.

I sighed and shoved the door open, ignoring the sound of things crunching behind it.

"Did a tornado come through here, or what?" Bakura wondered, scratching at his bangs again.

Did he always do that?

"Yeah, and it's called my dad." I responded with a roll of my eyes. "Um…I have to do some cleaning up…just uh…have a seat on the couch or something…"

"There's a couch in here?"

"…Don't be a dick." I motioned to the couch and went to the broom closet. Broom and dustpan in hand, I set about cleaning up at least the broken glass. Or what I could find of it, at least.

"Your father did all of this?" Bakura asked, sprawling out on the forest green couch. He kicked a beer can my way.

Unfortunately, it wasn't an empty and it spilled all over our tile floors.

"Watch it." I muttered, going back for a mop. "And yes, he did."

Bakura looked around. "Sheesh…and I thought my old man had a temper…"

"Huh?"

"You'll see next week." He spoke quickly, as if dismissing me before I learned too much information too soon.

Neither of us spoke as I mopped up the spilled beer and liquor, before going back to picking up glass shards with the broom and dust pan.

"Your father drinks, I presume?" Bakura picked up a can and sniffed it, seeming disgusted.

"Do you?" I wondered, watching his fascination with the can.

"Thief and Yami do, but not me." He shook his head. He gave me a glare as if daring me to say anything about it. "So am I going to meet the old man?"

"He probably won't be home until late, so you get to avoid him." I swept up some glass. "Lucky you." I muttered.

"Huh?"

"Don't worry about it." I matched his 'shut up, you're pissing me off' glare.

He put up his hands in a defenseless manner, before throwing the can in his hand over his shoulder. It splattered against the wall, leaving a brown trail. I glared.

"I know you hate me, but stop making more of a mess for me to clean. This place is a dump enough without _your_ help."

He cocked an eyebrow. "You're as mouthy here as you are in school."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't pretend to be someone else when I'm in school, you know. What you see is what you get, no matter where I am."

He seemed to consider this theory for a few minutes, leaving me to my cleaning. Ishizu wouldn't be home for another hour to do the dishes in the kitchen, and Odion worked until five, so it was up to me to make it look presentable for Bakura. I couldn't believe I was more concerned about what Bakura would think of me then of what was wrong with my family. My house.

"If you want something to eat or drink, the kitchen's over there." I jutted my thumb towards the room in kitchen.

"I much prefer to watch this, Cinderella."

Great, another nickname.

"You're not going to keep this between you and me, are you?" I sighed, knowing the answer without him responding. "Fine."

He chuckled. "You know me pretty well." He said. "It's almost like you're obsessed with me and spend every day memorizing every little detail about me."

I tried not to flush. "Yeah, right. Like I don't have _enough_ on my plate, I thought I'd also write a documentary about _you_."

He chuckled again. "An interesting feature film. Direct to DVD, on-TV, or the big screen?" he folded his arms behind his head again and leaned back on the couch. "Gotta let me know so I can hold a special screening."

"I was thinking to do it on the silver screen first, then the TV." I said. "Maybe a DVD if the ticket sales are high enough."

"Ah, marketing strategies. Always good to have." His lips curled into a highly amused smirk.

"Of course. Otherwise I'd go nowhere. And if I'm sinking a lot of money into this thing, I want to make sure I have a great turnover."

"In it specifically and only for profit, hm?" He tsk-ed. "Very greedy there, Cinderella."

I threw a feather duster at his head for the nickname, but he caught it before it hit him.

"I'm surprised." He said. "Sarcastic conversations don't normally go that long for me and the other two…"

I shrugged. "Gotta have that special touch, I suppose."

With most, if not all of the glass and cans picked up, I put everything away. The cans and bottles went into a garbage bag to be thrown onto the porch by Odion later, when he took the trash out. It _was_ trash day tomorrow, wasn't it…?

"I guess so." He watched me as I moved around the house, retrieving two sodas from the kitchen.

I returned and handed him one directly, before sitting next to him on the couch, albeit sideways, and opening my own can. He didn't even thank me before opening his, but I didn't expect a thank you from him anyway. No manners, this one.

"So what do you do around here for fun?" He wondered, looking around. "We have to do something while I'm here. Bad things tend to happen when I'm bored."

I rolled my eyes. Ra, he was like a child. "I do homework, I read…that's about it…"

He gave me a squinty eyed look with his left eye, the other open wide. His jaw dropped a little bit. "Are you _serious_?" He wondered. "Bloody hell, how dull."

"Sorry." I shrugged. "What do you do for fun around your house then, oh so smart one?"

"Video games, hang with the guys, create mayhem and mischief, loiter around random stores. You know, typical crap." He took a sip from his soda.

"Would it kill you to obey the law for once?" I wondered. "Seems like you're in trouble a lot…"

He glared. "If you're referring to what that ass-hat of a principal mentioned about foster care, it's not your business. And if you're referring to rumors you've heard, you're a moron."

I rolled my eyes. "I listen to them, but that doesn't mean I believe them. It's always interesting, hearing what people with little inside knowledge think that they know about anything."

He pouted slightly, thinking. I'd noticed over the years that he'd do that when in deep thought.

"I suppose that's true." He rubbed his chin. "What have you heard recently that makes you think I'm always in trouble?"

"Well, you yourself just said you 'create mayhem and mischief', and loiter." I shrugged. "I just put two and two together, since that stuff can get you into real deep shit." Were we really having an intelligent conversation without trying to kill one another? No way this was happening. I felt almost giddy, but I hid it well under the surface. "And I've heard that you have quite a reputation of being…well…causing trouble all the time, and getting arrested for this and that…"

And this interesting rumor that you were secretly gay, like me. But that wasn't anything I would tell him yet. Not until I'd earned his trust enough that he'd actually tell me if he was or not. Pft, like _that_ would ever happen. Even I could've rolled my eyes at my stupidity, but I hid it.

He didn't seem annoyed with what I'd told him. "Hm…good. Let everyone think that way." He snorted. "I'm better off with everyone thinking I'm dangerous anyway."

"What makes you say that?" I wondered, genuinely curious.

"Not your business yet, Ishtar."

"Yet?"

"…Maybe one day I'll tell you, but not now."

"Um…okay…"

He flushed a little and looked away. The front door opened, much to my surprise, and I saw my father stumble in. Oh, for the love of Isis, no. I waited until he looked at me to speak. "Hello, father." I greeted trying to be pleasant and not piss him off.

"What's this?" He motioned to Bakura, who frowned.

I hoped Bakura didn't argue with him about being called 'this'.

"This is Bakura." I said. "He's a…friend from school."

"Hey." Bakura raised his soda in greeting.

My father grunted at him and brushed past. "Looks like that Ryou brat…"

"Ryou's not a brat." I argued.

He glared at me and I knew I was in trouble. "Sorry." I said.

"When's this leaving?"

"At eight."

"Whatever." My father rumbled around in the fridge before coming back with a fresh six pack of beer. "I'll be in my study. Don't bother me until _that_ is gone." He glared at me. "I know about school, that's no friend of yours."

I swallowed a lump in my throat as he glared at me before walking off, his feet trudging on the carpet.

"Charming man." Bakura scowled.

"I know. Sorry he kept referring to you as 'this' or 'that'…"

"Fine, whatever. It's better then what my old man calls me. How much trouble are you in?"

"A ton. Probably get my ass handed to me…" I trailed.

"I figured he was like that."

"From the house being a dump before I cleaned up?"

"That, and from the look on his face when he saw me, and when he mentioned school." Bakura paused. "Also, you seem frightened of him."

I laughed nervously. "Of my own father? No way."

The look in his eyes said he saw right through me.

"Uh…come on. Let's go to my room. He won't bother us there…" I stood quickly and waited for Bakura.

He cocked an eyebrow before following me. I could only hope my room was presentable, and that my father didn't come looking for me later.


	6. Confessions of A Broken Heart

Dlbn: Hey everyone! Welcome to another update of "Lollipop and Chainsaws"!

Nbld: This was one of our favorite chapters to write, and we hope you enjoy as much as we did. Now, for the Review Corner! Thank you to Pharaoh Silver, Dynamite and Soup, VampirePrinssess, M169, OtEpShAmAyA, RandomSpazz-chan, and BakuraxMalikNum1Fan for reviewing! Cookies and milk for you all!

Pharaoh Silver: Haha same here XD Especially since when I get bored, I start to think too much and over-think situations. ;-; Uh oh, that's not good XD How mad was she? Glad you enjoyed the chapter!

Dynamite and Soup: Glad you enjoyed ^^ Marik and Bakura banter is always amusing. Haha you may be surprised at how it turns out :x

VampirePrinssess: Marik's father needs to go away and stay away, to be honest But, then again, a little conflict never killed anyone. It sure seems Bakura is ready to talk. At least he's opening up to people besides the walking disasters he calls friends ;)

M169: Here it is :D

OtEpShAmAyA: Thanks, it's nice to hear that they flow well together. I've always worried about that, myself ^^" Aw, I'm sure your chapters flow nicely :3 Yup, that way, we're prepared. And Marik needs all the preparation he can get, am I right? XD

RandomSpazz-chan: He's a meenie everywhere you go. I've seen him written as much worse O.o Aw thanks for the cookie! (Gobbles it up)

BakuraxMalikNum1Fan: I'm glad you enjoy ^^

Dedication: this is dedicated to a good friend of mine who got into a motorcycle accident recently (there were two other motorcycle accidents in the same spot that day. Those two incidents ended with the death of the riders, but my friend survived his due to doctors and nurses who 'happened' to be passing by. And I say happened like that, because that was divine intervention or something). He's had surgery to reconstruct his sinuses and has been released since then. So this is in celebration of him being released and beginning the recovery process. This one's for you, buddy! ^^

000

Bakura took a little walk around my room, scrutinizing every little detail in his mind. I didn't have much in my room beyond furniture, some technology, and my books. Oh, and of course the golden rod with the Egyptian symbol on it. A gift from my mother when I was thirteen. Apparently, it had been in the family for generations. Bakura acknowledged it, but he didn't remove it from the stand it was on, or touch it at all. Which I was thankful for. I was pretty protective of my Rod. Yes, I was aware how wrong it was to say that I was protective of my 'Rod', but that was beside the point. Bakura scanned the titles of my books and pulled one from the shelf. I smiled a little before I realized it was a copy of Twilight and flushed. He gave me an odd look, holding the book by its corner. He pointed to it with his other hand.

"Seriously, Marik?" He wondered.

"It's for novelty purposes. I don't read it." I informed. "I was planning on burning it in front of a mob of Twilight fan-girls…"

Bakura gave me a strange look, but it faded away and was replaced with contentment. "Edgy, life threatening, and hilarious…I like it." He put the book back and wiped his hand off on his pants, before going back through the rest of my books. He found another one that seemed to interest him and pulled it out. Oh, why was I too stupid to hide my yaoi manga? Oh…right…because my siblings knew I was gay, and my father was always too drunk to notice anything. How could I forget?

"Why do you have…?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "I forgot that was in there."

I'd bought it a few week prior, when I had dragged Ryou out shopping, and read it that morning, but I didn't want Bakura knowing that.

"Why would you even…in the first place?" He didn't seem to be able to make words form.

"Gag gift from Ryou."

He flipped through it and stopped on a page. "Looks legit to me…"

I flushed as he showed me the page containing a very steamy sex scene. "I meant that he got it as a joke. Since your friend's always calling me 'fruitcake' and stuff like that…?"

That seemed to satisfy him, or at least made him sick of my lame excuses, and he put it back.

"You weren't kidding when you said that all you do is read and homework."

I shrugged. "He drinks away the money."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Stupid drunk." He muttered, obviously not fond of alcoholics either.

I vaguely wondered if anyone in his family was a drunk too, and that's why he had the attitude. Or maybe he just didn't like drunks for an entirely different reason. Based on principle, perhaps?

"You can say that again." I nodded. "Um…I have a TV…"

"I don't watch TV." He said, looking away. "It bores me. I'd rather be roaming around the streets." He spotted a motorcycle magazine on my nightstand and picked it up. "You're really into motorcycles, aren't you?"

"I always wanted one." I blurted without thinking. "My father bought me one when I got my license at sixteen…"

"Just him?" He wondered. "Where's your mother?"

I froze for a few moments before looking away. "She passed away shortly after we moved here…about a year…"

"Oh…I'm sorry…"

I looked away. "Um…it's okay…"

Without even looking at him, I knew that he knew I was lying. I missed my mother like crazy. My dad wasn't like this back when she was around. Her death hit him pretty hard. It was sudden. She was only given two weeks left to live before she died, and she hadn't even lasted that long. We all took it hard. Odion had hid it well, since he'd felt like he needed to step up and basically be the father; since our father was falling down into the drunken pits of hell and couldn't do it himself. Ishizu had taken on a motherly role. No wonder she was always yelling at me for things I was supposed to do and didn't, or things I did but wasn't supposed to do. Such as not cleaning the bathroom, or liking Bakura.

"No, it's not okay." Bakura chuckled, making me look at him. "Nice try, tough guy, but I see right through that façade."

I shrugged and flushed, looking away again. "Sure…"

Bakura rolled his eyes and flipped through the magazine. "You already have a bike. Why look for another one?"

"Mine's getting up there in millage and age…if something goes wrong with it, I might have to get a new one." No matter how much I don't want to.

"Hm…" He continued flipping through the magazine. "You can't afford video games, how can you afford one of these?"

"When I'm seventeen, I have to get a job to help with finances." I shrugged. "Ishizu, Odion, and I decided on it a long time ago."

Ishizu was seventeen already, but pickings for jobs were slim around town. She was going to ask Mai and Rebecca's grandfather if she could work for him for a while, until she found another job.

"Does your sister…?"

"Not yet."

"Your brother?"

"Gas station attendant."

"Sounds fun."

"Not really. Place gets robbed at least once a month. He's been present for the past five of six robberies."

Bakura chuckled. "Oh yeah. I know what gas station you're talking about. Yami hit that one up once…"

"I hope it wasn't when my brother was there." I gave him a look of death.

"It was four year ago. I don't think you were even here."

Odion was only eighteen now, so there was no way he was working four years ago. Mom was alive then, anyway. And we weren't even in the country.

"Thankfully."

Bakura shrugged. It was obvious that other peoples' safety meant nothing to him. Why did I fall for him again? I looked him over as he was reading the magazine and too preoccupied to notice. Oh, yeah. That was why. What could I say? He was hot. Form fitting trench coat, dark eyes, long silvery hair…that attitude of his was somehow attractive too. I stopped looking him over just before he looked up from the magazine.

"Do we have to stay here? You look like you need air."

"I'm fine." I waved him off, flopping down on my bed. "Have a seat…wherever you can find room."

Unfortunately, there wasn't much of that around my room. Just the floor and the bed. For a moment, I hoped he'd chose the floor, but he chose the bed and lay down, laying horizontal while I was vertical. I peered at him over the tops of my feet, which didn't quite reach him yet; although I was stretched out completely. Neither of us spoke for a minute. He folded his arms under his head and closed his eyes. For a moment, I thought he was sleeping. Then he looked at me.

"Ishizu's your sister, huh?"

"You didn't know?" I was surprised. Despite the differences in our hair color and gender, we looked quite similar. How many Egyptian teenagers did one find in Tokyo, anyway?

He shrugged. "I don't pay much attention to anyone else." He informed. "I only know her by name anyway."

That explained it. Neither of us spoke for a few minutes.

"You have siblings?"

"I had a sister."

"Had?" I wondered.

He glared. "I don't want to talk about it."

I put up my hands in a defenseless manner. "Fine, fine."

"You'll find out when you have to come to my place next week anyway." He shrugged. "Do you go anywhere on weekends? Or just stay here and read?"

"I get out of the house while my dad's at the bar." I responded.

"Where to? I have to prepare if I'm being dragged somewhere boring…"

I glared this time. "I normally just hang at Ryou's place, but I can't this weekend with you."

"Why not?"

"Because I have to be with you for five hours…"

Bakura rolled his eyes. "What do you propose we do then?"

"Sometimes I go roam around the mall…"

He gave me a strange look. "Loitering, hm?"

"No…I go in stores…"

He rolled his eyes at me again. "Save some face, man, and say you're loitering."

I smiled a little. "Fine…" It turned into a smirk. "I go to the mall to loiter sometimes."

Nice of him to been keeping an eye on my reputation. And nice of him to remind me of how opposite the two of us were. What Ryou, Ishizu, and I called window-shopping, he apparently called loitering. Non-criminal V.S. criminal. Well, they do say that opposites attract…though that was only true for me, between Bakura and I.

"There you go, sport." He chuckled. He leaned back, so that his head was upside-down and facing the window. "So you go to the mall to loiter, or go over to Ryou-chan's place, hm?"

"Don't you mean Ryou-kun…?"

I knew a few things about honorifics, at least. I could swear that chan was for a girl. But maybe I was wrong…?

"Huh? That's what I said." He stuttered a bit.

I cocked an eyebrow at his stuttering. "Sure it is…" I didn't want to argue and get in a fight my father would be furious, more then he already was, if I trashed my room by fighting with Bakura…again…

Before I could say anything else, my bedroom door opened. Ishizu stood on the other end, arms folded over her chest. I sighed in relief when I noticed that it wasn't my father.

"What?" I wondered.

She walked in and slammed the door rather hard. "So you're here already then." She cocked an eyebrow at Bakura. "I didn't expect you to show up at all."

"I didn't have a choice." He sat up, putting one foot up on the bed. He crossed his arms over it, practically hugging his knee. "I came over right after school. Wouldn't have found my way here without him to guide me." He nodded in my direction.

She glared. "I talked to the Principal." She stated. "You better not get him into any trouble this weekend, got me?"

Bakura cocked an eyebrow, giving her a look. "Um…excuse me?" He snarled. "A 'hello, see ya' would've been _nice_."

"Nice doesn't work on you."

"Ishizu…" I moaned.

She knew how much I liked him. I knew that she didn't like him as a person, but did she have to be so rude?

She glared at me. "Shut up, this is for your own good." She looked back at Bakura. "If you get him into trouble, I'm going straight to the Principal, got me?"

He rolled his eyes. "You don't intimidate me, lady."

I moaned and closed my eyes, digging my palms into them. There was no way this was happening. It was all a bad dream, right? That had to be it. When I opened my eyes again, I was disappointed to find that it was all real.

"Dad's home, Ishizu, keep your voice down…" I tried.

"I know he is, I saw the car." She informed. "I don't want to be a bitch, but bitchiness is the only thing that gets through to guys like him."

"Guys like me? And what, pray tell, madam, kind of guy am I? If you're such an expert at men." He looked her over.

She seemed disgusted by his stare, and took a step forward. "You're a jackass with a smart mouth and shady motives." She described him how she saw fit. "You hang out with a couple losers, and all the two of you do is cause mayhem and make everyone else's daily lives miserable. You do whatever you want because you _know_ you can get away with it, and if you can't, then who cares? You'll still do it anyway, and you're willing to drag innocent people like Marik into the mix and get them in trouble. Using them as scapegoats for your own plans, so that if anyone gets caught, it's them and not you. And you're no remorseful about it, no. You're empowered by the bad-boy, trouble-maker reputation you've earned yourself. You're actually proud of it, and you don't care if anyone tells you that you're wrong for what you do. It doesn't matter what their opinions are, as long as you have yours." A moment's pause. "But you do all of it just to get attention because, deep down, you're ashamed of yourself and have low self esteem, so you'd rather push everyone away before they find that weakness inside you and poke at it until your tough exterior melts away; leaving the scared, lonely little boy trapped within." She blinked pretty eyes at him. "Am I in the right ballpark, sweetie?"

There was sarcasm dripping in her last statement. I looked at Bakura and saw his eyes cloudy with anger. He wasn't in disbelief that she had figured him out, but rather angered that she had and was pointing out every little flaw he had. Of course, pointing out that he had _any_ weakness at all was a qualifier for a few missing teeth. Luckily, he didn't seem like the type to hit women. A moment passed before he masked his anger and gave her a cool little smirk.

"You couldn't be any further from the truth, doll." He lied.

She didn't seem to catch the lie and flushed.

"Why don't you go back into the kitchen and whip up something to eat, or do chores, or whatever it is you do to contribute to the household, hm? Something nice and easy before you hurt yourself by thinking too hard."

She fumed. "Why you rotten little…!"

My door flared open; hitting the wall behind it. I was hoping to see Odion coming to shut Ishizu up before she woke up the old drunk in the other room. Instead, I saw the old drunk himself in the doorway. I sat up quickly and knocked Bakura's foot off the bed, making him lurch forward and lose balance. He composed himself and glared at me. I paid no notice to him and concentrated more on what my father was doing. I watched as he grabbed Ishizu roughly by the arm and pulled her close.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" He hissed.

"F-Father…I…" She looked away and he slapped her. Hard.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, girl." He ordered. "Whether you like it or not, _that_ is a guest, and you shall treat him as such. Understood?"

"Y-Yes sir…" She whimpered.

I fought back both a shudder and the urge to beat the old man's head in for touching and scaring my sister. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could really do. Especially with Bakura here. The light haired teen was watching with a grim expression. He didn't seem to like what my father was doing either. Maybe Ishizu was wrong about him…maybe he did care about others, but hid it. With Thief and Yami for friends, that wouldn't surprise me. They were sociopaths down to the last 's'. I wasn't so sure about Bakura yet, though.

He shoved her to the side, making her stumble into a wall and hit her head on it. "Behave better." He ordered, before looking at Bakura. "Sorry about her." He slurred.

"It's fine." Bakura said through gritted teeth.

My father then looked at me. "What are you looking at?" He snarled.

"Nothing." I responded, looking away to my pillows.

He growled. "My office. Right after he leaves. Understood?"

"Yes sir." I nodded.

He left without saying a word, slamming my bedroom door behind him. It wasn't until we couldn't hear him muttering to himself that someone spoke. Surprisingly, Bakura spoke first. "You okay?" He asked my sister.

"F-Fine…" She stuttered. "I'm going to my room…" She opened the door and stumbled out; shutting it behind her.

"How do you just sit there?" Bakura asked me. "While he's hurting your sister, you just sit there and stare? Be a man, fight back for God's sake."

"It's not that easy, Bakura." I replied, looking away. I was ashamed that I couldn't help my sister. It's not that I wouldn't, it was that I couldn't. "If I stop him, he'll hurt both me and her, kick me out, and then hurt her more. The same with Odion. We can't leave Ishizu alone with him. If he takes more of his aggression out on us, she won't…suffer as much later…"

Bakura gave me a look. "Man up." He ordered. "Odion's eighteen, no? He's two years ahead of us?"

"That's right…"

"So get the hell out."

"Get out?" I chuckled. "With what money? 7.50 an hour at a gas station don't pay Odion much, Ishizu can't find a job, and I'm not seventeen yet. We can't support ourselves."

"Homeless shelter. Battered women's shelters take underage kids, too…" He shook his head. "Or better yet, call the police and get his ass arrested. They'll involve social services and get you into public housing or something."

"You…know a lot about the system…" I commented.

"I should." He stated. "I've been in it since I was a baby."

"You have…?"

He looked away. "It's a story for another time…"

"We have time now…?"

I could see him as he rolled his eyes.

"Fine, Malik, if you're that persistent." He said. "My biological father was a druggie and he beat my mother. She refused to leave him, so when neighbors heard the abuse and called the police, the police took me from the home. I've been in and out of foster care since then…I got adopted six years ago, by the parents I have now. They're from here, so that's why I moved here. They called me a 'lost cause' because I was always in trouble back then. Big trouble. Like felony for an adult trouble."

I was surprised for two reasons. The first being that he was actually telling me all of this. The second was his story itself. How…unpleasant…no wonder he was such a jackass. I wondered if Yami and Thief knew his story. They were his friends, so they had to know…right?

"I turned myself around for a bit with these guys, but…" He paused. "That only lasted until I started school here. They let me take a year off to adjust to life here. It's different from back in Britain, you know? Anyway, since school started, I've gone back to my old ways. I guess Ishizu was right." He shrugged. "I get myself into trouble and don't care what others think. Not because I'm a sociopath, it's just in my blood, my nature…" He paused. "Well, that's my sob story. Take it or leave it, but it's true."

I felt bad for him. Honestly, I did. But I couldn't let him know that. I sat up and smiled softly at him.

"Why wouldn't I believe you?" I wondered.

He shrugged and looked away. "It's crazy."

"Life's crazy."

He laughed. "So…what's your story…?"

"Well…" I paused. "My mother and father didn't think they could have kids, so they adopted Odion. But by some miracle or whatever, they had Ishizu and me later on. My dad's job got relocated here from Cairo, so we had to move or lose our house. Mom was diagnosed with cancer when I was thirteen. They gave her two weeks to live, but she died in five days. Dad turned to booze, Ishizu became a bit of a bitch, and Odion stepped up in a parent role. And I just succumbed to it and locked myself away. Ask Ryou, he'll vouch." I sighed, feeling tears come to my eyes. I wiped them away with my school uniform jacket. "Mom put in her will to get me a motorcycle when I got my license, so dad honored it. But he's an alcoholic jackass now. I can't stand him and would like nothing more then to just get rid of him, but I can't. And Odion and Ishizu can't fight back either. So we're screwed until one of us gets a good job. We're lucky if the bastard doesn't kick Odion out once he graduates in the Spring." I sighed. "Ishizu and I won't be too far behind. I'm dreading the day I'm left alone with him…"

"Maybe you won't be." Bakura said. "I mean, there's still two years before you're eighteen, and one until you graduate…so…maybe by then, one of your siblings will be able t take you in?"

"I guess." I sighed. "It would be so much easier if I was into the whole Cougar/Cub thing. Someone to take me out of here when I turned eighteen. Hell, even before that. Just someone to take me and my siblings out of here, but keep us together not separated like we would be in Foster Care…"

Bakura looked away.

"What?" I wondered.

"Siblings." He sighed. "The people who adopted me…their daughter was killed in a car crash about three months after I moved here. That's partially why I missed a year of school when I first got here. They couldn't put me into school and get everything settled when they were so upset. Plus, they wanted me to get used to living in Japan, like I said. My Japanese sucked at the time…"

"Mine was horrible too." I laughed. "But we knew dad was going to get relocated about a year before he did, so I had some skills. Ryou and tutors helped a lot when we first got here."

"He's a good friend, hm…?"

"Yeah." I smiled. "The best."

"Good…" He trailed. "You need something good in your life…"

I flushed. "Thank you…so do you…"

His face matched mine in color, and I felt my heart skip a beat. Wow…we made a connection. I connected to Bakura…No matter what my father threw at me later, nothing could bring me down after this.


	7. Candy From A Stranger

Dlbn: Hey there everyone! Welcome to another update of Lollipops and Chainsaws!

Nbld: We start school back up on Wednesday, but we're still going to try and keep updates weekly.

Dlbn: If we're a day or so late, it's because of school. Though issues shouldn't come up until later in the semester. I mean, I only have three classes because financial aid screwed me over. But I digress.

Nbld: So let's get onto the Review Corner before my sister starts up with another random discussion. Thank you to AnonymousGuest, Pharaoh Silver, M169, Dynamite and Soup, VampirePrinssess, OtEpShAmAyA, and Annzy Bananzy for reviewing! Pocky for you all!

AnonymousGuest: It's about time, no? ;) Glad you're enjoying!

Pharaoh Silver: Glad you liked! Um…why was your mom so mad? O.o

M169: Glad you enjoyed! It's about time. They've known each other for at least two years, after all.

Dynamite and Soup: Glad you enjoyed! There's a surprise involving that later on in the story, actually ;) When other people aren't around, they seem to trust one another more.

VampirePrinssess: It won't be anything too bad. I don't want to go into much details in those scenes anyway ^^" Bakura doesn't like being called a thing. Bakura smash! XD Yaoi manga everywhere! :D Glad you enjoyed!

OtEpShAmAyA: Glad you liked ^^ Especially since she doesn't like Bakura. She doesn't want to get humiliated in front of him. Well, since they discuss something new every day, I figured I'd go day by day with them. :)

Annzy Bananzy: About time! :D I'm glad you enjoy it so far! I always like to have a bit of humor in my fics. (With the exception of one or two) It's not a trashed bedroom, no. XD I bet the Principal never thought this punishment would work, hm? ;) Haha I wanna beat him too, to be honest XD or at least get him arrested. I hate child abuse as well. They should all be locked up and never allowed to see the light of day Bakura was either confused, irritated at the explanation, or liked the idea of Marik having yaoi. I don't know which yet XD "Marik is…Marik" That had me laughing XD Bakura's definitely got a good side to him. He just hides it behind his delinquency. Glad you enjoy :D And aw, no need to apologize :3

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bakura, Ryou, or the Ishtar family. They all belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of writing in this fandom. This disclaimer also goes with chapter 6, because I forgot to put it ^^"

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to my friend Sean's 21st birthday! We went to a gay bar with his mom, two of our other friends, and his boyfriend. I had my first margarita. So much fun. Happy late birthday, buddy!

000

Apparently, something my father could throw at me would bring me down. He chucked a wine bottle at my head, making me duck down to avoid it. It seemed to anger him more, as he threw three or four more bottles at me. The last one had wine in it, which spilled on the wall of his study and left a stain.

"What in the world is _wrong_ with you?" He screamed at me. "Getting into a _fight_ with some punk kid?!"

My anger flared and I wanted to yell at him for talking about Bakura like that, though I knew he was right. I held my tongue instead, knowing my beating would be worse if I went against him.

"I'm sorry…" I tried to apologize and ease his anger, but all it got me was a dictionary thrown at my head.

"You're _sorry_?!" He scowled. "You should've thought about that before you _attacked_ the kid!"

"He went after me first!" I argued.

"So you retaliate?" He wondered. "Stupid brat!" Another book was thrown at my head, an expensive pen following it. "Get the _hell_ out of my office! You better hope I don't see you until this punishment thing from your principal is over, or we'll have a _big_ problem!"

I didn't feel like arguing and getting beat worse, so I opened the door and sped out of the office. Odion was waiting for me in the living room, reading some book for his English class.

"Are you okay?" He wondered.

"Yeah, I'm good." I said, running a hand through my hair. I felt something liquid in it and pulled my hand away. Red wine stained my hand, and I groaned. "Just great." I complained.

Odion shook his head. "Fighting Bakura is the dumbest thing you've ever done." Odion scolded me. "Don't you like him? Why attack him?"

"He pulled a prank on me and left me stuck in a net hanging from trees until noon." I said. "I'm just luck Ryou uses the short path on the mile run."

"Stuck in a net…in trees…?" Odion wondered. "Never mind, I don't want to know."

I flushed. "Pervert. He doesn't even know that I like him."

Odion chuckled and put his book down. "Just be careful around him, alright?" He wondered. "I know you don't want to hear it, but he's dangerous…"

"I know, I heard it from Ishizu earlier." I rolled my eyes. "But he's really not that bad…we got along today…and…"

"That's today and at _your_ house. Who knows what he's going to be like at his place, or in public this weekend." Odion shook his head, drawing his features into a scowl. "Don't be fooled by one day of you guys getting along to his real personality. I don't want you getting into any trouble outside of school because of him, alright? We don't need the cops coming here and finding out the truth, okay? Or it's Foster Care for you and Ishizu."

"I know." I responded, sighing. "I'm sure I'll be okay. I think he understands that I can't get in trouble with the law…I explained to him about us being under eighteen…"

My brother cocked an eyebrow. "How much did you tell him?"

"That we don't want to be split up…"

"Marik…"

"What?"

"Don't tell him too much, because he can use it against you later."

"He won't."

Odion shook his head. "You don't _know_ that." He said. "You can only speculate."

I smirked. Bakura understood me a lot better then my brother understood him.

000

At school the next day, Ryou was the first person I spoke to. He was waiting for me on the stairs of the school when I arrived. He wiggled his fingers at me in a wave, ignoring the other teens jostling him around. I put up my arm and moved my wrist once in response, before joining him on the stairs.

"You survived!" He greeted, grinning.

"Heh, yeah, I did." I returned the greeting.

"So…how was it?"

"Fine." I shrugged. "Everything went fine…except for Ishizu coming home and yelling at us, then my father coming in and yelling at her, and then my father attacking me later for getting into trouble at school."

"I'm not surprised with that last part…" Ryou muttered. "He really went after her with Bakura around?"

"He grabbed and then shoved her, that's all…"

"Still…" Ryou paused. "He does realize that Bakura is a witness and could call the police on him at any time?"

"Two things. One, no cop is going to believe someone with a record like Bakura's. Two, I already talked to him about it, since he suggested I do so. He won't."

"I hope not." Ryou sighed looking out over the crowds for something. "Speak of the Devil, and he shall come."

I smirked and looked out to see Bakura, Thief, and Yami walking onto school grounds. Bakura was at the front, the other two trailing behind him. Thief and Yami were whispering to one another, but Bakura didn't seem to notice. With his long black trench coat on, Bakura had his hands shoved into the pockets. He didn't look up from his feet as he walked, though even I could tell that he was intently listening to his friends' whispering. He stopped and they almost crashed into him, not expecting it and not watching where they were going anyway. I watched him look over his shoulder at them and say something that had both of them stunned. He continued his path up towards the school, shoulders slumped forward a little bit.

"Hey." He greeted Ryou and I as he passed.

"Hi Bakura." I greeted.

"H-Hi…" Ryou trailed as he watched his 'evil twin' walk inside.

They weren't twins, I knew that much, but they _did_ look alike.

"That was weird." Ryou told me.

"Maybe he's coming around…?" I offered.

Ryou gave me a look that clearly said I was out of my mind. I shrugged in response. "Anything's possible."

I wisely stopped talking as Thief and Yami ambled up the steps. Yami waved his wrist in greeting, but Thief ignored us as they passed. Ryou and I both wiggled our fingers at them to return the greeting, but it went ignored.

"Something weird is going on with those three…" A voice said to my right.

I turned to see Mai standing next to us, arms folded over her slightly exposed chest.

"Where's Ishizu?" I wondered.

Normally Mai picked her up from our place before school, but I had left early to go pick up a coffee. I was feeling really out of it for some reason. I'd had the drink finished by the time I got to school

Mai shrugged in response to my question. "She told me not to pick her up." She said. "I was concerned because we were supposed to go to my grandfather's to ask him for a job for her. She says she went there early this morning to ask, so I guess she's still there. Or maybe she's walking Rebecca to school."

Rebecca was still in elementary school, but she was very bright for a fifth grader. She was at the top of her class and, most likely, would be skipping sixth grade in the fall and going straight into seventh. Her parents were out on some expedition, so Rebecca lived with her grandfather. She and Mai were cousins on Mai's mother and Rebecca's father's side of the family.

"If you hear from her before lunch, tell her to contact me somehow, please." I told the blonde.

Mai shrugged and continued on into school. I turned back to Ryou.

"I hope my father didn't do something to her." I told him. "…Should I go home and see if she's there?"

"You'll only get both of you beat worse." Ryou responded. "If you don't find out anything about her by lunch, then use my cell and call her."

"She doesn't have a cell."

"Then call home and see if she answers."

"I could do that…" I sighed.

Even though she acted like we were complete strangers at school, which explained how Bakura wasn't aware that she was my sister until I told him so, I still worried. She _was_ my sister, after all. I may not stand up to my father for her, but I still worried about her safety with him around. Her not being at school with Mai was troubling. She _never_ missed school. None of did, because we didn't want to be home alone if our father decided to come home mid-day for lunch or just to make sure no one was there. It was part of the reason I hated weekends. Our father would be off all weekend, and therefore home until he deemed it the right time to go get drunk, and we had to tip-toe around him. He often had a hangover Saturday mornings, which meant that we should avoid him at all costs. He was more volatile then, if one could believe that. Luckily, I had a plan to keep Bakura out of my house on the weekend, though we had to stick together for five hours each day.

"If I try, your father might pick up and start cursing me out again." Mai said. 'I don't want that."

"I don't blame you." Ryou and I spoke at the same time.

We both burst into laughter at that. Mai rolled her eyes.

"Just hook up and get it over with." She ordered, winking at us, before going inside.

Ryou was cherry red when I looked at him.

"Oh, come on, Ryou. It's just Mai. Don't listen to her jokes…"

He smiled softly. "Y-Yeah, I guess you're right…"

The first bell rang and the two of us darted into the building, not wanting to be late.

000

Lunch that day was a surprise. Bakura and his friends were sitting at mine and Ryou's usual table when we got there with our food.

"Let's go somewhere else." Ryou offered.

"I think we're fine." I shrugged. "We'll just sit on the other end. No big deal." I plopped down at the end farthest from Bakura. I was on the opposite side of the table as him, so I could see him without arousing suspicions.

"What are you guys sitting down there for?" Bakura wondered. "We don't bite…hard."

I laughed nervously, as did Ryou, at his lame little joke. Yami waved his wrist.

"You can come sit down with us, you know." He stated.

I cocked an eyebrow at him. Not only was I surprised by his words, but I noticed something I never did before. He looked like me. Albeit, a little older, rougher, and he had wilder hair then I did. Strange. And Thief kind of looked like an older, tamer Bakura with shorter hair and a scar. There was no relation between any of us, that much I knew. But still, the resemblance was uncanny.

"What?" Thief asked.

"Huh?" I wondered.

Ryou leaned across the table and shut my jaw. I didn't realize it had been open the entire time and that I was staring at them like a moron.

"Sorry…" I muttered.

"You heard him." Bakura informed. "Come down here."

Ryou and I shared wary looks before sliding over to sit nearer to them. This was strange. They obviously had something up their sleeves. Though I trusted Bakura to a degree when it was just the two of us, I didn't trust him and his friends when they were together.

"Um…this isn't like you guys…socializing beyond the three of you…" I tried slowly.

Bakura shrugged. "Needed something to do." He told me.

"Um…okay…"

No one said anything for a minute then Yami spoke. "You guys wanna see a cool trick?" He wondered.

"No." Ryou squeaked nervously.

"Sure?" Yami wondered. "It's pretty simple." He looked at me. "Marik?"

"Uh…I guess…" I answered slowly, unsure of it.

"Alright, close your eyes."

Ryou and I shared a look, but we did so anyway.

"When I say three, I'm going to do the trick. Then I'll tell you when to open your eyes, okay?"

"Alright…" I sighed.

"One…" He counted. "Two…three!"

Before I could ask or he could say anything else, I felt something hit my face and then heard the three trouble makers laughing. Ugh, seriously, what did they do? I opened my eyes and saw mashed potatoes drip down from my nose.

"Are you _shitting_ me?!" I snarled.

I grabbed a napkin and wiped my face off until I couldn't feel anything. When I was able to look again, they were leaving through the cafeteria's double doors. Ryou opened his eyes. They went wide as he saw.

"Marik…your hair…" He offered me another napkin. "Let's go to the bathroom, come on. Grab your stuff so they don't come back for it."

I groaned. What was in my hair? Hopefully something I could easily walk out. I moved the ends so I could see them and noticed that the ends were becoming brown from gravy. How much had they thrown at me? I sighed and followed Ryou to the bathroom, ignoring other students' giggling.


	8. According To You

Dlbn: Hey everyone, and welcome back with another chapter!

Nbld: We knew it was about time to update this, so we figured we'd do so now.

Dlbn: It's back to school for the first full week for us tomorrow. Which is good, because I get bored at home. Plus, I need something to think about other then my life, so this works.

Nbld: And we get to see all our crazy friends.

Dlbn: That's true too.

Nbld: Anyway, we'll stop rambling. Time for the Review Corner! Thank you to Dynamite and Soup, AnonymousGuest, Nightwitch1312 (For a review for chapter one), RandomSpazz-chan, Annzy Bananzy, OtEpShAmAyA, VampirePrinssess, and Pharaoh Silver for reviewing! Lollipops for you all!

Dynamite and Soup: It was definitely uncalled for, but it's Bakura, so what do you expect? XD Glad you enjoyed! What's going on with Ishizu will be revealed in this chapter ^^

AnonymousGuest: Their reasoning is complicated. But Bakura's reasons should be revealed soon.

RandomSpazz-chan: Thank you! Haha, yes, you may certainly have a talk with him. Just be careful.

Annzy Bananzy: Haha nice prediction. I can't confirm or deny that, but you'll find out eventually ;) Thank you, I'll pass it on XD I'm not a booze person either, but I had a margarita. It's apparently the only booze I can handle XD Marik's father needs to be shot…or something…I'm not sure what to do with him. As for Bakura's feelings, I know how he feels, I just don't want to ruin anything by saying it ^^" A very interesting one XD That's Odion for you. At least, unlike Marik, he's thinking rationally. He gets mad at Marik every day XD Mad enough to expose everything, I'm not so sure XD What's up with Ishizu should appear in this chapter, yes. Stuff in Marik's hair…it's _got_ to be a recurring theme now XD I'd hate to see Yami and Thief's reaction to Bakura changing so quickly. Glad you're enjoying :3

OtEpShAmAyA: Of course there was something up. They're always plotting something ;)

VampirePrinssess: Marik will never listen, will he? Silly little love bird ;) Believing that the person you love will one day change. Tale as old as time, no? Marik's proof that it's true hehe. What's up with Ishizu should be explained in this chapter.

Pharaoh Silver: Haha I can see that now. It's funny XD Milk in a mashed potato fight? XD At my high school, someone blew a bullhorn on April Fool's Day, and then half of the cafeteria got into a food fight. Our principal yelled so much, I think a vein almost popped in his head XD Glad you liked!

Disclaimer; I do NOT own the Ishtar Family, Ryou, Bakura, Bakura's friends, and anyone else from the YugiOh Franchise. They all belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of writing this.

000

Using as much water as I could from the sinks and as little liquid soap as possible from the dispenser, I scrubbed at my hair to get rid of the mashed potatoes, gravy, and apparently carrots, that had landed in it. It didn't take much work to scrub it all off of my face, but my hair was a different story. I used paper-towels to scrub the water out of my hair as best as I could. The rest of it could air dry, as we didn't have hand dryers in the school. They apparently weren't very earth conscious around here. Then again, I wasn't really that conscious about it either. Not surprising, when I noted that over half of the paper-towels in the garbage were from me. Ryou stood faithfully by my side, handing me a new paper-towel whenever I offered my hand to him in expectation of receiving one.

"You can't say you're surprised that this happened." Ryou said. "I knew they were up to something."

"I figured. But I thought it might just be one of them tripping me when I got up, not making a mess out of my hair." I sighed. I leaned on my heels on the sink and leaned forward, inspecting my face better for food residue. "Why am I an idiot?" I wondered.

"You're not…" Ryou tried to argue with me.

"I can't believe I fell for that…any of it…"

"Any of it? It was just a stupid prank, Marik…"

I sighed and looked behind me, checking the stalls for feet and checking out the urinals for people before I spoke.

"I mean what happened yesterday." I said. "Bakura and I got along really well…I thought we made some sort of connection, or at least a mutual understanding of each other." I sighed. "Then he goes and does this."

"Well, I think it was more Yami's doing…"

"He didn't stop him." I argued.

Ryou didn't speak for a moment. "I guess. But you have to realize that when you put those three together, they become uncontrollable. Why do you think they hardly have any classes together? No one can handle them. It's a miracle they're in study hall together this year."

"How do you know this?"

"I overheard Seto talking about it with Mokuba. Their dad's the Principal, so I assumed they would know…"

"Hm…just one more little piece of gossip for us to nibble on, I suppose."

Ryou chuckled. "I never thought of that…but it makes sense." He said. "They're always starting rumors to get attention or cause drama…"

"Of course."

We wisely stopped talking as we heard the bathroom door open. It was Noah Kaiba who came in shortly after.

"Hey." He greeted with a smile, running a hand through his hair. "Saw what happened. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied.

God, it was just mashed potatoes and carrots…it wasn't like he threw a textbook at my head.

"I didn't tell dad, since you two are in enough hot water already. But if you want…"

"No." I replied.

"Okay." He shrugged. "Excuse me." He went around us to the furthest urinal.

"Hey, Noah, can I ask you a question?" I wondered.

Ryou gave me a confused look.

"Um…yeah…though I'd prefer if you'd wait until I finish…"

"Sorry." I said.

A few minutes passed before I heard him zip up his uniform pants again.

"So what is it?" He joined us at the sinks, washing up.

"Bakura and his friends…"

"Yeah?"

"…Never mind. Look, your father mentioned having to call Foster Care on Bakura if he didn't accept punishment…?"

"Yeah, so?" Noah shrugged.

"But he said 'again'…has he had to do that before?"

"Ask Bakura."

"I don't think he'd tell me."

Noah rolled his eyes. "You don't know unless you try." He smiled softly at me. "But you sounded like you had another question, about the whole gang?"

"Is it just a rumor that they're purposefully separated for every class?" Ryou butted in.

Noah looked at him and blinked a few times. "Where did you hear that? Ugh, did Mokuba and Seto say that around you? It's just a coincidence."

"That's what we figured." Ryou giggled. "Just wondering."

Noah smiled softly. "If Mokuba and Seto are talking about stuff like that, then just ignore them, okay?" He asked. "They like making up things. God, I swear they're worse then Bakura and his friends. They cause as much trouble; they just do it from underneath everyone else. Manipulation at its finest. Of course, father doesn't care." He began coughing.

"Are you okay?" I wondered.

He nodded and waved me off, covering his mouth with one hand. I could see blood coming over his fingers. "I'm going to the nurse. Bye guys, nice talking to you." He fled the bathroom rather quickly for someone who was coughing up blood.

"I hope he's okay…" Ryou trailed.

It was well known that Noah was very sick as a kid. He was in a coma from age eight until age 10, but he seemed okay now. He had a flare up once and a while, but not that much. I'd never seen him cough up blood before, though.

"Me too." I nodded. "Come on, let's get back to lunch before it's to late."

"Our food is probably gone." Ryou said. "I bet the lunch ladies threw it out."

"Maybe we'll luck out and Yugi and his friends will sit with us again and guarded our food."

Ryou laughed. "I hope so…"

000

After school ended, I met with Bakura again on the front steps. He didn't look me in the face as I said hello. I blinked at him. Now he was ignoring me? Fine, whatever.

"Let's get this over with." I said to him, handing him the helmet from my motorcycle that I had grabbed from my locker. I walked down the steps, expecting him to follow.

"I'm sorry." He told me.

I stopped and turned to see him, still standing on the steps, finally looking at me. "For what?"

"For…uh…lunch…today?"

I shrugged. "I shouldn't have expected anything less."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"It means…whatever you want it to, Bakura." I responded. "Now let's go before I get home too late. I've got cleaning to do."

I continued walking. It took a few moments, but eventually I heard him walking down the stairs and following me towards the parking lot. Neither of us said anything until we reached the bike. It wasn't until I got on it that Bakura spoke to me.

"What did it mean?" He wondered.

"Ugh." I was annoyed. Was he this stupid? "That you being nice to me yesterday was only for yesterday, and that once we got back to school, you and your friends would be jackasses again."

He glared at me as I slipped on and adjusted my helmet. "You think it was just an act?" He wondered. "I told you about my biological parents and my adoptive sister. I've never told anyone that before. Not even Thief and Yami. They wouldn't understand because they _have_ their families. They never spent time living from one foster home to another, or in orphanages. They _have_ both of their biological parents around…and to be honest, I'm not even sure what possessed me to tell _you_ of all people. Maybe I thought you'd understand on some level, considering what a dick your father is. But if you think it was just an act…well, I guess we're both wrong about something…"

I looked away. I hadn't considered that…but then again…

"So why did you let him do that earlier?" I wondered.

"I can't stop them from doing what they want to do."

"You laughed right along with them."

"Of course, they're my friends…"

I rolled my eyes. "If Ryou pulled a dick move, I wouldn't laugh at what he did. I guess that's what makes us different…you go along with your friends' stupidity, I resist it."

He shrugged, not arguing, before slipping on his helmet. I took that as the end of our conversation and turned the bike on, steadying it so Bakura could get on as well. Once I felt him hop on and wrap his arms around my waist, I took off into traffic once more.


	9. Confessions part 2

Dlbn: Hey there, everyone! Sorry for the late update, but we're back!

Nbld: We're almost caught up to our prewritten stuff, so we're going to get to work writing more soon. So, let's go to the Review Corner! Thank you to VampirePrinssess, AnonymousGuest, and M169 for reviewing! Apple pie for you all! (Or whatever kind of pie you prefer)

VampirePrinssess: Yeah, that's true. Some people change because of who their new friends are, too :/ It's happened to me with a friend before. Glad you liked!

AnonymousGuest: Next chapter, it is! :D

M169: It's about time he did so, don't you think? :D

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bakura, the Ishtar family, or anyone else from the YuGiOh franchise. They all belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of this work of non-canon fiction.

000

Thankfully, our house hadn't been too much of a mess when we got there. Ishizu had shown up for school right after lunch, claiming she was cleaning up a bit because our father ordered her to. I wonder if that's all he had ordered her to do while Odion and me were gone and unable to stop him or protect her. I grabbed a mop and cleaned the kitchen floors. Bakura sat on a high stool on the opposite side of the bar counter; sitting on the living room side, since it broke up the living room and kitchen areas. I'd given him a soda that I'd found in the fridge and a brownie that Ishizu had apparently made. Some were missing, so I suspected that my father either ate them himself or took them to work for his coworkers. There were enough left for Bakura and I to have one now, Odion and Ishizu to have one later when they got home, and the four of us to have one after dinner. And by four, I meant my siblings and my father. Bakura could stay for dinner if he wanted, since we ate at seven, but he skipped out on dinner with us last time, and had said he would this time too. I suspected it had something with not wanting to deal with my father, but it could have also been that five hours in our nuthouse was too many, so screw another half hour or so.

"I take it you guys do different things every day? Or just whatever was a mess?" Bakura wondered, mouth almost full of brownie.

"It's Wednesday, which means it's the day that the kitchen floors need to be cleaned." I explained. "I'm only doing it because it's one of the easiest things to do around here, so I'll be done quickly. You won't have to watch me clean for three hours…"

"It's more fun then being in your room staring at the ceiling." Bakura informed. "And talking." He took a sip of soda.

"Funny. Talking didn't seem like much of a chore to you yesterday." I stopped mopping and leaned on the handle. "Seemed like you enjoyed actually having someone to talk to for once."

He glared at me over the top of the soda can. He slammed it down on the counter, letting out a burp as he did so. I was glad my father wasn't home.

"Watch it." He ordered me.

I cocked an eyebrow. "Don't cop an attitude with me." I ordered back. "This is _my_ house, not school or public. I can fight you here all I want."

"Ooh, I'm so scared." Bakura leaned on his hand, his elbow pressed onto the counter. "You go after me, I can always call the cops and have them investigate you and your family. I'm sure they'd love to see your off his rocker father when he's had a few beers in him and decides to slap your sister. Or whatever else he does to her."

That did it. I dropped the mop and, in a flash, lunged and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him off his seat and close to me.

"Watch what you say about my sister." I snarled. "Got that?"

He cocked an eyebrow. With a cool smile, he grabbed both my hands in his. I felt a shiver go through me, but I fought it back so that he wouldn't know. His hands were pretty soft…something I hadn't been able to notice when he was beating me senseless a few days before. He loosened my hands, but still held onto them. He lowered our hands down against the counter and pinned mine there.

"You're blushing." He commented, chuckling.

"You're touching me…" I informed.

"I'm aware of this…that's what's making you blush?"

"No one's…done that before…" I tried playing cool. "Held my hand, I mean."

"Not even in Egypt?"

"My sister, maybe when we were little, but that's about it…"

"Nice friends you have. So friendly."

"I don't see you holding hands with _your_ friends."

"They'd think I was gay or something."

I froze. "Why…? Is that a bad…thing…?"

"Huh?" He wondered. "I don't care if other people are, but I don't want them spreading untrue rumors. I get enough of those spread about me as it is."

"Um…promise you won't get mad I if tell you something?"

"What is it?"

"Promise me first."

"I promise." He rolled his eyes.

"I don't believe you."

He leaned a little closer, breath tickling my nose. "I promise…Marik…" he let the name curl off of his tongue and made a show of it.

"Um…there's already…a rumor…like that…"

He backed up a bit, still holding onto my hands. I could feel my palms get sweaty and wondered if he'd let go before I melted into goo in his grip.

"There's already a rumor going around that I'm gay…"

I nodded. "I didn't know until someone told me, so I guess it's not that widespread yet…"

"But someone told you, so why wouldn't they tell…fuck. How am I going to keep up my image with _this_ going on? Ugh…"

I flushed and looked away. "What does your sexuality have to do with your image?"

"Gay stereotypes, Marik, I'm sure you now a few. The uneducated point of view on gays? Such as gay men being feminine and weak? Hm? Don't tell me you've never heard of it…"

I shrugged. "Sure I have, I just never believed it."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Well…that's good…" He looked away. "How can I have people fear me and not want to mess with me if they think that way about me?"

"I don't think anyone would argue that you're one of the biggest hard-asses in the school…"

I noticed his look and flushed. "That wasn't meant to be a gay joke."

He shrugged, seeming to take it as an answer.

I was learning more and more about Bakura over the past two days then I'd learned over the past two years of living in Tokyo. He hated gay stereotypes, he didn't want his friends thinking he was gay and spreading rumors, he didn't talk to people about his past or his family often-if at all- he was adopted, I knew about his Foster Care situation…

"You don't understand how peoples' minds work, Marik, do you?"

"Do _you_?"

He didn't speak for a moment. "I suppose not. I'm not a telepath, so I can't exactly know how people think…"

"And neither can I."

"But I can speak from…experience…"

"Experience." My heart leapt, but then sank. If he _was_ gay and had a bad experience with people knowing, there was no way he'd tell me that he was. Or, maybe it was just something he witnessed.

"I've seen people get the snot kicked out of them for suspicion of being gay, by school bullies." He went on, making my second thought the correct one. "And seen some of the toughest kids in school get jumped for it. We like to think that everyone and everything in the world is equal, but that makes us just as ignorant as anyone else…"

"We?"

"I meant in general. People think that they're smarter then other people because they see the truth. But they see a lie they've fabricated and thus believe to be true. That just makes them as ignorant of the world as anyone else is."

"I guess so." I shrugged. "Um…are you going to let me go any time soon? I'm not going to actually hit you…"

"Oh, sorry." He was flushing as he dropped my hands, sitting back down on the stool he'd been standing on a moment before.

"It's okay…" I trailed.

I didn't really want him to let go, but I didn't want him knowing I enjoyed it either.

"Can I ask you a question, now?"

"You just did."

He glared. "Don't be a smart-ass."

"Okay, okay, what's your question?"

"If I was…you know, gay…would you think any different of me?"

I was a bit taken aback. Well, I'd respect him more if he was and just came out and said it to at least me, but I wasn't going to tell him that. "Of course not."

He nodded and looked away, picking up his brownie. "Good to know…" He took a bite out of it.

"Would you?"

"Huh?" He looked at me, crumbs littering his mouth.

"Think anything different of me if I was…?"

He didn't speak for a minute, swallowing his brownie. "No."

"Okay…" I picked up my mop again as he took a swig from his soda.

I finished mopping up the kitchen, neither of us saying a word. Once I was done, I dumped the bucket into the sink. Then put the mop and bucket back in the closet. Once I returned to the kitchen, I grabbed myself a brownie and a soda. I sat down across from Bakura to eat.

"Your sister made these?" He wondered.

"Yeah, she said she did." I replied.

He nodded once. "They're pretty good."

"I'll pass on the word."

"I wouldn't."

"Why not?"

"You know she doesn't like me."

"Well…she's like that with everyone I…"

"Everyone you…?"

"Get into fights with." I finished.

Oh Ra, did I almost spill that I loved him?

"Oh."

"What did you think I meant?"

"Anyone you bring home to hang out."

"Oh. No, she was cool with all my former friends…"

"Former?"

"No one from Egypt beyond our own extended family, which is only my aunt and cousin, keeps in contact with me. Ishizu and Odion's friends still email them, but mine pretend I never existed or something." I shrugged.

"Oh…great friends."

I rolled my eyes. "You lived in Britain for a while, right? Did you have any friends there?"

"Of course."

"Keep in contact with them still?"

"Only one. The rest are in prison."

I paled. "For what?"

"Some big fraudulent scheme." Bakura shrugged one shoulder. "I didn't ask much about it. But if I stayed there any longer, I would've been caught up in it myself."

"You'd be in prison too, then?"

He nodded. "And my last foster parents back in Britain? When I got out, they wouldn't get custody of me again. I'd be shipped off somewhere else, having the fuzz breathing down my neck about who I hung with and what I did."

"Fuzz, hm?" I chuckled. "You sound like a criminal when you say that."

He fixed me with a glare that could kill. I slunk back a bit.

"Sorry…I didn't mean that as a joke…"

"I didn't take it as a joke." He growled, practically baring his teeth at me. "You should have figured out by now that I'm not fond of that stereotypical nonsense."

"Oh…" I responded. "Um…sorry…but if it was a stereotype, it was for most Hollywood crime flicks, not real life people in general."

"I…I guess…" He sighed. "Whatever. So you know something I hate. Return the favor."

"Liars." I shrugged.

Hypocritical! I was lying to him every day. Pretending I didn't feel anything for him besides a little contempt and a lot of annoyance mixed with resentment.

"Everybody lies."

"So you're saying I should hate everybody?"

"Essentially."

"Including you?"

He didn't speak for a minute.

"Let me rephrase my statement then." I offered. "I hate pathological liars."

"Like me."

I glared. "People who are two-faced."

"So once again, I'm included in that?"

"What?" I wondered. "No…"

"You accused me of it earlier."

"What!?"

"At school? When you said that I was nice to you when I was at your house, but a dick at school like my friends?"

"O-Oh…yeah…I did say that…I was just angry, I guess. I-I didn't…"

"Don't lie to me."

"Fine, I meant it. At the time."

"Uh huh."

"You don't believe me."

"Why should I?"

Before I could answer, the front door opened. Ishizu walked in, dropping her backpack by the couch as she stalked over. I knew she was going to go after him. Why didn't I take him into my room before I ate? Oh, right, dad didn't allow food or drinks in the bedroom. Then why did I take so long to finish? Oh, yea, because he made an asinine comment about my sister and my father. Before I could stop her, she slapped Bakura, hard across the cheek. I was shocked, to say the least. My sister _never_ laid a hand on anyone else, especially when mad. She'd told me before that she didn't because the world didn't need more people like dad. I respected her for that

But right now I was surprised that she would hit him, and pretty pissed that she'd done that to _Bakura_ of all people. The guy she _knew_ I was basically in love with.

Bakura looked at her, not seeming to notice the probable stinging in his now red cheek. He cocked an eyebrow. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He wondered.

She didn't say anything, instead fixing him with a harsh glare. She looked at me, glaring daggers. I shrunk back a little. I never saw her this mad before. Not even after dad…

"Uh…h-hi…?" I offered. "Welcome home…?"

She glared. "You're being civil with him after the lunchroom today?" She hissed.

"How did you…? Odion." I rolled my eyes.

"Mai, actually." Ishizu snapped, looking back at Bakura. "I can't believe you let your ass of a friend do that, and then laughed like it was the funniest thing you've ever seen. Didn't even have the balls to stop him, or stay behind and apologize, or help him clean up. What have you get to say for yourself? After yesterday, you'd actually do something like this to him? I _thought_ you two were on friendly terms now!"

I could tell that Bakura was getting more and more annoyed with each sentence that came out of her mouth. But, thankfully, he hid it well from her.

"Are you just about through?" He asked calmly.

Her glare basically said that she was.

"First of all, what I do is not your business. Second of all, neither is how well I get along with your brother." Bakura snarled.

The look in Ishizu's eyes, no matter how fleeting, told me that he'd said the wrong thing.

"He's my brother. He _is_ my business."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Sure." He agreed. "I'll give you that. But if you think you figured me out, honey, you still have a lot to learn. Not everyone's so black and white."

She opened her mouth to yell again, but was interrupted by Odion coming in through the front door.

"Oh…you're all home…" He greeted. "Everything alright?" He eyed Bakura warily, eyes settling on his cheek. "What? Did Ishizu walk in on the two of you doing it or something?"

I flushed. "O-Odion! Pervert!"

"Hey, who knows?" Odion smirked.

The smirk faded when he saw the very-less-then-amused look on Bakura's face.

"Did I say something I shouldn't have?"

"Now's not…really the time for jokes." I warned.

He nodded in understanding. "Why don't you to go in your room, Marik, and I can deal with Ishizu out here, hm?"

"Sounds like a good idea." I stood and put my plate in the sink. "Come on, Bakura."

I walked past him, pulling him by the arm to make him move with me. He got up from the stool reluctantly and followed me, fixing Ishizu with a glare as he passed her. I brought him into my room and slammed the door, hoping Odion could keep Ishizu busy and she'd leave us alone for the rest of the time he was here.


	10. Undisclosed Desires

Dlbn: Hey there, everyone, and welcome to chapter ten!

Nbld: We know it hasn't been a week yet, but still. We're going to update anyway. You know why?

Dlbn: Because "Lollipops and Chainsaws" is two months old today! Woot!

Nbld: Yes, we're dorks, we know XD But now, let's get onto the Review Corner! Thank you to LadySunami, Nightwitch1312, AnonymousGuest, RandomSpazz-chan, VampirePrinssess, and OtEpShAmAyA for reviewing! Pocky and Ramune for you all!

LadySunami: Which one indeed ;) (Well, I know what he is, but that would ruin everything) The only gay kid he bashes is Marik XD Of course it won't. But she won't hit her father back, so she'll hit him. Besides, she knows he can't fight back because he'd get in more trouble. Bakura blushing is quite adorable. (Hides from Bakura)

Nightwitch1312: Glad you liked! :D Um…I can't reveal that, for it would give away too much. ;)

AnonymousGuest: Hehe, I know, right? And yes, Odion's always gotta be cracking jokes at Marik's suspense ;) Poor boy can't catch a break XD

RandomSpazz-chan: Mr. Ishtar is scary sometimes. O.o I like the Face Book idea, personally. He needs a good Face Booking, if you know what I mean ;)

VampirePrinssess: No, she won't always do that. And here's a brownie for Isy (Hands it over) Glad you liked!

OtEpShAmAyA: A little hint of Thiefshipping to squash some anticipation of it ;) He really is doing a horrible job. Lucky for Marik XD

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the characters of the YuGiOh franchise. I only own VHS tapes, a book, and a shit ton of cards. The television series, manga series, and all characters included belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of this work of fiction.

000

Thankfully, Ishizu had decided to go out to dinner with Mai's family, so she didn't bother Bakura or me for the rest of the night. It was about eight at night when Bakura left. Odion was watching TV in the living room and bid him goodbye, but my father wasn't home yet. He was probably still getting drunk with his stupid friends. I flopped down on the couch next to Odion.

"How'd it go?" He asked me.

"Everything went fine." I shrugged. "We talked, listened to music, and then le left."

Odion nodded. "You're…um…getting close, are you not?"

"We…understand each other, I guess." I said. "At least a little bit."

It took a few moments for Odion to answer. "So no more incidents like the one that got you in trouble in the first place? Or the food in the cafeteria?"

"I…I'm not sure…"

"You're not sure?" Odion wondered cocking an eyebrow. "How are you not sure?"

"Well…he might not do anything directly, but his friends might."

Odion sighed. "If he has any assemblage of a person inside of him, and he's at least on friendly terms with you, he should stop them."

I shrugged.

"Why do you like someone who treats you so horribly?" Odion asked. "There's no way you can build a friendship with him, let alone romantic involvement. It doesn't make any sense. If he's like this now, what's going to stop him from beating on you when you're together?"

I froze. If I was with Bakura, would he hurt me like my father hurt me and my siblings? I would like to think that he wouldn't. Maybe being with him _was_ a horrible idea…

"I'm never going to be in a relationship with him." I shook my head. "I'm not sure he's gay. And if he was, I'm pretty sure I'm not his type."

"And what would his type be?"

"I don't know…probably a troublemaker like him." I shrugged. "Definitely not a goody-two-shoes like me."

"You started a fight with him in the middle of class." Odion stated. "I don't think that still makes you a goody-two-shoes."

I laughed a little. He had a point. "It's the only thing I've ever done. I'm not like him." I shook my head. "He likes loitering around at places after hours, and playing pranks and starting fights. I like sitting at home and reading or going to the mall just to avoid dad on the weekends. We have nothing in common except for our grade."

That wasn't exactly a lie. The only other thing we had in common was that we both had less then perfect childhoods, but for different reasons. He had a completely screwed up family that he was taken away from. I had a completely screwed up family that I couldn't escape. Not that I wanted to be away from my siblings or anything, but my father was a completely different story.

"I guess you have a point." Odion shrugged. "Opposites attract, though."

"Yeah, I know…" I said. "I've heard it before. Why are you encouraging to not give up all of a sudden?"

"I've seen the look in your eyes when you're with him here. You like it." Odion explained. "I may not like the idea of you being with someone like him, but I can't control what you do. You like him, and that's your thing. Nothing me or Ishizu or Ryou can say will change your mind. I'm not Ishizu. I'm not ignorant enough to think that we can change your mind. It's your life. What you decide is your decision, and I'll have to deal with it."

I blinked. I never knew he thought that way. I thought he was like Ishizu; wanting to desperately talk me out of my crush before it got too strong. The whole time, was he just offering advice and hoping I'd take it, but knowing that I might not and being okay with it? I smiled softly. I think Odion understood me better then I did.

000

Ryou's jaw almost hit the cafeteria floor when I told him what Odion had said to me. He was obviously surprised at how my elder brother felt about the entire situation. It took him a few minutes to get his wits about him before he spoke again.

"He…he's not going to try and convince you to drop the crush?" Ryou wondered.

"Yeah." I clarified. "He says he knows he can't change my mind, and I guess he's at peace with that."

Ryou thought for a moment. "I'm shocked." He said. "I'm honestly shocked. I don't know how else to put it. So if you were to ever get with you-know-who…" He avoided saying the name as Mokuba walked past us. "Then he wouldn't try to get you to leave?"

"Yeah, pretty much." I shrugged. "But you and I both know I don't have a shot. Odion says opposites attract, but even I know that's not right. It doesn't mean anything in this case." My eyes shifted away from Ryou as I watched Bakura and his friends walk into the cafeteria. I hoped they wouldn't sit with us again. I didn't want a repeat of yesterday.

"Hey." Bakura greeted as he passed by.

"Hi." I responded.

Ryou waved a little before putting his hand down. "He certainly seems…friendlier…then before."

"Yeah, I guess."

"So how was it yesterday? After Ishizu calmed down and got out of the picture, that is."

"It went fine." I said. "I think we're starting to get a connection of some sort. Maybe we'll be friends or something after this."

"Or at least he'll stop targeting you with his pranks."

"That says nothing about the other two." I laughed. "They wouldn't stop even if I was his brother, for Ra's sake."

Ryou giggled, like he often did when I said 'for Ra's sake'. I don't know why he found it humorous, but he did, and I didn't ask.

"That's true." Ryou snickered. "So you're not going to tell me anything you guys said? What did you talk about?"

"Once again, my lips are sealed on details." I informed. "But we somehow got on the topic of people being gay, and then we started talking about things we don't like."

"How are those connected?"

"Long story." I said. "We got into gay stereotypes and he said he hates stereotypes."

"Ah." Ryou nodded. "Well…what about being gay?"

"I wouldn't lose respect for him if he was gay, and he wouldn't lose respect for me if I was gay."

"He respects you?" Ryou wondered. "Sure doesn't seem like it."

"He respects me for standing up to him the other day in Study Hall, I guess." I shrugged. "At least, that's what he said."

"I thought he'd hate you for fighting back."

"I did, too."

"So what else did you talk about?"

"Nothing much." I replied. "We mostly just sat around and listened to music on the radio until he had to leave. I wish my house wasn't so _boring_."

"My house is pretty boring, too. So don't feel bad." Ryou chuckled.

"At least you have a TV in your room." I said. "If I ever mentioned that I wanted a TV in my room, my father would snap at me."

"He snaps at you for everything." Ryou said. "No offense!" He added quickly, to avoid insulting me.

"Don't worry about it. You're not saying anything I don't already know." I laughed.

The night before, once my father got home, he beat me for not cleaning the dishes properly, although I did them by hand _and_ put them through the dish washer. I guess he saw my fingers in double vision when I held up a plate for him and, in his drunken stupor, thought my fingers were dirt. I didn't correct him because the beating would have bene ten times worse. I was just grateful that he avoided my face. That would have raised questions I didn't want to answer. And I didn't want anyone, especially the Principal, to think that Bakura had done it. I had a strange feeling that he would've stopped my father if he was present at the time. Would he have, though? Or was I just getting my hopes up? My father would never attack one of us with other people present, though. Even when drunk, he knew better then to have witnesses.

"I guess…" Ryou shrugged. He still seemed worried that he'd upset me.

"I'm telling you, its fine."

"If you say so, Marik. But I know it's not."

I couldn't really argue with that.

000

I yawned loudly as Mr. Moto went on about pyramids in Egypt and their function as tombs. As the only Egyptian in the room, I didn't really need to listen to him prattle on about it. I already knew this stuff. Nothing new. Ryou next to me snickered as Mr. Moto gave me a look.

"Am I putting you to sleep, Marik?" He wondered.

"Kind of." I replied honestly.

That earned laughter from everyone else, including a little snicker from Bakura.

"I know that you probably know this stuff, but please, others don't."

"I think we could figure it out on our own." Bakura said. "Besides, weren't we taught about that stuff when we were younger?"

"Well _yes_ but there's more to it!" Mr. Moto objected. "For example, did you know that most pyramids have booby traps for unwanted guests? They were put in place to prevent robbers from sneaking in and stealing the Pharaoh's treasures."

"I knew that!" Someone in back commented. "From Indiana Jones!"

That got some laughter.

"Yes, well…"

"And Lora Croft!" Another student commented.

Mr. Moto flushed. "I suppose I should've expected that." He said. "But boring or not, I have to teach you this stuff so they think I'm doing my job." He winked, making the class laugh.

It wasn't often that the class stayed on track, and the principal was starting to get none too happy about it.

"So let's get back to the lecture."

As the others groaned, I began planning what I'd do this weekend with Bakura. Loafing around Ryou's place was out of the question, and going to the mall was boring and wouldn't keep Bakura entertained. We didn't have to go to his house until the following week, so that was out of the question. Well, not exactly out of the question, but pointless. He didn't seem to want to bring me to his place anyway. He was open about his family and their situation. So why did he seem so reluctant to bring me over? Was there something he was hiding that he hadn't told me about yet? Maybe…

I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts of why just as the bell rang. No one seemed to notice me shaking my head for no reason. Other then Ryou, that was.

"Thinking about something?" He asked me.

"Nothing important." I lied.

"Don't lie to me, Marik."

Damn, how did he know that quickly?

"Just thinking about this weekend."

"Oh, okay." He shrugged. "You have to spend it with him, don't you?"

"Yeah…"

Was that jealousy I heard creeping into my best friend's voice? How strange…Well, maybe not, considering we normally spent every weekend together. But thanks to this punishment, we couldn't this weekend.

"Some of it." I added after a few moments of awkward silence.

"Oh okay." Ryou beamed. "So I guess when you're done with him, you can come over?"

"Sure." I smiled. "I don't see why not. As long as I'm home by curfew. You know how dad is…"

"Sadly, I do." Ryou sighed. "Try not to get into too much trouble with him the rest of the week, okay?"

"I'll try. But with my father, blinking causes trouble." I whispered.

Ryou nodded, knowing what I meant. I wondered if he'd ever call the police on my father. I wonder how far my father would have to go in order to make him go do that. I was sure he hadn't told his parents, so there was never the worry that they would do anything. That brought me back to my thoughts earlier. Would Bakura call the cops on my father if he actually saw him hit on me? Or if he saw me severely injured and learned that my father was the cause? Would he go after hi himself, or go to the police for help? Would he tell his parents and have them do something about it? There were so many options. But, although he hurt Ishizu in front of Bakura, as long as my father remembered that witnesses meant convictions, I wouldn't ever have to know the answer. Though, to be honest, a way out didn't sound like such a bad idea.


	11. Hey Jealousy

Dlbn: Hey there everyone, and welcome to a new chapter!

Nbld: We won't both you all with our mindless rambling, so let's get onto more important things. Such as the Review Corner! Thank you to M169, NightWitch1312, AnonymousGuest, VampirePrinssess, Avii Sohen, and OtEpShAmAyA for reviewing! Candy for you all!

M169: Thiefshipping is coming! I just can't tell when yet ^^" Well, I know when, I mean I can't give out answers yet…I'm confusing me now XD A lot of the ones I'm reading are too. And most of them update too quick for me to catch up any time soon…

NightWitch1312: No problem :D Glad you enjoy ^^ Things will get interesting eventually ;)

AnonymousGuest: He was the one to care about Marik the most in the show, so I figure he'll do the same here ^^ It made class a little more interesting though, didn't it? ;) Still working on the weekend plans. I have an idea, but it's not full yet ^^"

VampirePrinssess: Nope, he's jealous because Bakura is taking Marik away from him this weekend ;) I think he'd step in. After all, Bakura is the punching bag of Bakura and his friends, after all ;) Thank you ^^

Avii Sohen: Glad you enjoy! :D

OtEpShAmAyA: Thanks, glad you liked! :D I'm pretty sure he would too. At least a tiny bit :)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Marik, Bakura, Ryou, or any other character form YuGiOh. The franchise does not belong to me. It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. I only own merch. I make NO money off of writing this work of fiction.

000

Once school was out for the day, surprisingly having finished without a hitch or prank from Bakura and his crew, I met Bakura outside of the school. As usual, he was the only one there by the time I managed to get there. He seemed to be a little impatient this time…er…more so then usual, that was. He was leaning against my bike in the bike rack. I couldn't help but feel my throat catch when I saw him. It was like a picture from a Playgirl or something. Not that I actually looked at one…

"You ready to go?" Bakura wondered. "Or are we just going to stand here and let the wind style our hair?"

"I'm ready, I'm ready." I rolled my eyes. "How come you're much nicer to me at my place?"

Bakura sent him a look that could kill before scanning around to make sure there was no one around to hear that. "Shut up and let's go."

"Alright, fine." I rolled my eyes. "Pushy."

He tossed my helmet to me, hitting me square in the chest. I felt some wind get knocked out of me before I grabbed the helmet and slipped it on. I straddled my bike as Bakura fixed on the spare helmet. I turned the bike and revved it up before Bakura took a seat. His arms tightened around my waist.

"Ready?" I asked over the sound of the engine.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" he replied.

I chuckled. "Three, two, one!" I pressed hard on the gas and floored it out of the parking lot.

Bakura's arms tightened a little too much around my waist to hold himself steady. I could practically feel the fear radiating off of the typically unfazed troublemaker. I felt him shift a little to get more comfortable, or to feel safer, and felt something press into my lower back. Was that his…oh my…the vibrations of the bike. It had to be the vibrations of the bike. Why else would he…? He didn't have that at school…not that I had looked or anything! I was so relieved when we finally got to my house and I was able to shut my bike off. Bakura's arms had loosened around my waist a little on the way back, but he was still clinging to me. He realized the bike was off and quickly retracted, muttering something about that not happening. I chuckled to myself as I took off the helmet and shook my blonde hair free. I hung my helmet off of the handlebar before reaching back to take Bakura's. The helmet was roughly pushed into my hand. I hooked it on my handle bar and wheeled the bike further into the garage so it wouldn't get ruined if one of dad's drunk buddies decided to bring him home from the bar tonight.

"Let's go." I lead Bakura into the back yard.

"Why are we going back here?" He wondered.

:I have to rake the leaves." I answered.

He gave me a look. "Is there ever going to be a day I come over here, and you actually _don't_ have something to do?"

"Well…you're coming over tomorrow…so no." I shook my head.

Bakura gave me a look. "What's tomorrow?"

"My room."

Bakura smirked. "Oh goody. I can find out what you've got hiding in there then."

"I hide nothing." I said. "Everything I have in there is out in the open." I took a moment to think it over again. "Yeah, everything is." I grabbed a rake that was leaning on the side of the house to clean up. "You can sit on a lawn chair if you want…oh…we don't have any…uh…there?" I pointed to a tree stump in the middle of the yard.

"Serious?"

I shrugged and began raking. He glared at me before going to the stump and sitting down. He crossed his legs out in front of him and gripped onto the back of the stump for support. "So…what's on the agenda today?"

"Huh?" I asked, stopping briefly to look at him.

"We always talk about something. I figured maybe you'd have something in mind."

"Not really…"

"Oh."

The only noise was the rake pulling leaves into a large pile in the middle of the yard. "Um…I'm sorry about my sister…"

'It's fine."

I shook my head. "She doesn't really have a right to talk to you that way…"

"She's your older sister, and you're her younger brother." He informed me of what I already knew. "I'm the guy that makes your life a living hell. In response, she lashes out at me. Some sort of pent up aggression."

"Pent up aggression?" I blinked at him.

"Think about it. She can't take it out on her father, so she's got to yell at someone. She won't yell at you or your brother because you two go through enough shit as it is. Naturally, she can take it out on me." He explained. "Think about it. She's got your father beating on her, and you have me beating on you, so to speak. In her mind's eye, I'm your version of your dad."

"My dad is my version of my dad." I told him. "He hits me too."

"And you don't fight back?"

"We've been through this, haven't we?"

Bakura shrugged. "I guess there's a rationale behind not fighting back. He'd just hit you harder, right?"

"Pretty much."

Neither of us said anything for a little while.

"Must be hard." Bakura spoke finally.

"Huh?" I stopped my raking to lean on it and stare at him.

"The thing with your father? You don't want to be beat, but you can't fight back because you'll only get hurt more." Bakura said. "It's a dilemma."

I smirked. "At least you get to go leave."

His lips pressed into a tight line. "Yeah…I do." He nodded. "You could, too, you know."

"And go where?"

"CPS? Homeless shelter?" Bakura wondered. "Go to the nurse or guidance counselor at school and make them do something about it. Don't just lay there like a rug and take your beating."

I considered his words. "We'd be separated."

"At least you'd be safe." He shrugged. "And it would only be until you're eighteen. So that's, what, a year for Ishizu? And Odion's 18, no? They might let you stay with him and just pay for a place for you guys to stay. Simple." Bakura shrugged one shoulder. "You don't know the system like I do, Marik."

Hearing him say my name sent shivers down my spine, but I suppressed them so he wouldn't catch on.

"I know I don't." I said. "I'm just…I'd be too nervous…"

He rolled his eyes. "Grow a damn _backbone_, Marik." He ordered. "You're almost 18. Almost a man. Act like it. Not like a sniveling little girl."

I glared before I resumed raking the leaves. "I'm not being a sniveling little girl."

"You're 'too nervous' to find a way to save yourself and your siblings." Bakura snorted. "It sounds like a sniveling little girl to me, not a man. A man would go and get out of his situation."

I rolled my eyes. Odion was oldest. Wasn't it _his_ job to protect Ishizu and me? I was the youngest. Since when was it _my_ job to protect them?

000

School the next day decided to drag out as long as possible. It was the last time Bakura was coming over to my house, and I couldn't wait for him to do so. Why did the day have to drag out so long? It was as if the universe was punishing me for not getting my siblings out of dad's house or something. Heh. Like the universe would ever agree with _Bakura_. Mr. Know-It-All. The idea of actually doing something to get away from my father flashed through my head quite a few times throughout the day thus-far. Ryou had noticed that something was strange with me, but I didn't tell him what I was thinking. What would he say? Call me crazy for considering one of Bakura's ideas to be a good one? Or tell me he was behind me doing something 100 percent? Maybe he'd offer to help me escape. Or offer to get me institutionalized. Odion and Ishizu's reactions to that idea would be five times worse then anything Ryou had to offer, so I wanted them finding out last. It wasn't as if I could really do anything alone. But if the three of us went to the police together and explained our situation, or called CPS, then maybe something could be done. We couldn't stay living under his roof, in complete fear of him, for the rest of our lives. Well, we were going to get out when we turned eighteen and had enough money to move out together, but doing so a little sooner couldn't hurt…

"Marik!" Ryou scolded me. "Are you even _listening_ to me?"

I snapped from my reverie to see my friend's green eyes staring back at me in concern. He was also irritated, which I could tell from his eyes and the way his mouth was subtly twitching.

"Sorry, Ryou, I was just thinking about something." I replied. "What did you say?"

Ryou rolled his eyes. "I asked you if you had to deal with Bakura this weekend too, or not."

"Yeah, five hours each day." I nodded. "And it's not 'deal with Bakura'. He's not that bad."

Ryou stared at me like I had three heads. "Did you completely forget about the mashed potatoes, and what he did to make this happen in the first place?"

"No, I didn't forget at all." I shook my head. "We've been talking, and we get along pretty well. He's not a bad person; he just makes horrible decisions…and follows along with whatever his friends are planning…"

Ryou rolled his eyes. "You're blinded, Marik." He said. "How do you know this isn't some act to get closer to you and do something horrible, huh?"

"I don't really think he has it in him to actually hurt me…"

"He left you hanging in a net from a tree from before school started until my gym class, when I found you." Ryou said slowly. "He's capable of it."

"I don't see it that way."

"Whatever." Ryou said. "So are we hanging out at my place after you two do whatever you need to do for the punishment?"

I nodded. "Don't I always come over?"

Ryou chuckled. "Yeah, you do. You're like a bug. No matter how many times you leave, you keep coming back."

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, Ryou." I said. "God, today's dragging on way too slow."

"You can say that again!" Ryou smiled. "I can't wait until school ends. I wanna get out of this building so bad, you don't even know."

"Not as much as I do, Ryou."

"Yeah, sure." Ryou rolled his eyes. "You want to see your new friend, that's why." He winked.

"New friend?" Joey's voice asked. "Who might that be, Marik?"

I looked up to see Joey and the rest of his crew standing by the table, trays in hand. Ryou and I both motioned for them to sit down.

"He's talking about Bakura." I said.

"You're friends now?" Yugi wondered. "I thought you guys hated each other."

"We don't get along, but I don't think we ever _hated_ each other."

I swear I could hear Ryou mutter something along the lines of, 'of course you never hated him, you want to get in his pants', but I kept quiet about it. I'd yell at him later when the others weren't around.

"Why are you two suddenly spending time together?" Yami wondered. "It's unusual."

"Remember how I attacked him in your grandfather's class?" I asked. "Well, the principal thinks we'd get along better if we knew each other better, so we have to spend time together. Or we get detention." I didn't want to tell them about Bakura's CPS issues. It wasn't their business, and Bakura trusted me with the information. "So every day this week, he has to come to my house for five hours, and next week I have to go to his for five hours every day."

"Man, that sucks." Joey informed, biting into a slice of pizza. "How's it going so far?"

The food in his mouth muffled his words. Pieces of pizza went flying.

"Joey, that's so disgusting!" tea accused, sticking her tongue out. "Finish chewing before you talk!"

"Come on, Wheeler, I'm sure my father doesn't want your spit contaminating all the table sin the cafeteria." Seto informed as he passed with Mokuba.

"What did you say, Rich Boy?" Joey wondered standing up. He harshly flattened his hands onto the table.

"You heard me, Wheeler." Seto called over his shoulder. "Watch the waterworks!"

"Why I outta…" Joey started off after him, but Tristain grabbed his arm.

"He's not worth it." Tristain said. "Do you want to get sentenced to the same thing as Marik and Bakura?"

Joey sat down at that. "I'd rather not waste five hours a day with him, thank you."

I rolled my eyes. It wasn't _that _bad of a punishment. But then again, I was in love with Bakura form the moment I met him, so of course I didn't mind the punishment.

"Why not? You might get to know each other better, and fall in love or something." I said, leaning on my hand. I smiled in Joey's direction, closing my eyes, as his friends and Ryou began laughing.

"Joey and Seto?" Tristain wondered. "Now there's a combination I don't ever want to see happen."

Joey flushed. "Shut up, Tristain!" He ordered. "You too, Marik."

I chuckled. "Sorry, Joey, I couldn't resist."

"You're as bad as Bakura." Joey accused me.

I stopped laughing and flushed. "I'm not like Bakura."

As if summoned by the gates of hell themselves, Bakura and his friends took up residence behind Joey.

"Been hanging with him too much, if you ask me."

"No one asked you." Bakura said.

Joey jumped. "Nyeh-!"

Everyone laughed at his reaction, including a few people fomr other tables that were disturbed by the commotion. Joey turned to look at the object of my affections. "Don't do that, Bakura. You'll give me a heart attack."

Bakura smirked. "Now there's an idea."

Joey glared, but he didn't argue. Seemed like he didn't want to mess with Bakura. Not messing with him didn't seem to be a bad idea, since he had his goons with him.

"Whatever." He said instead, picking up his pizza and taking a bite from it again.

Bakura smirked at him before looking over him and to me. "You, come here." He nodded towards the cafeteria doors. "I need to discuss something with you."

"Oh, uh, sure." I replied, standing. "Just no more pranks."

"I wasn't planning on it." Bakura looked to his friends. "You two keep these guys company for me, would you?" He wondered. "Private matters."

Yami and Thief shrugged at the same time.

"Whatever you say." Yami answered.

Bakura walked away towards the doors, expecting me to follow, as his friends sat with mine. Yami took a seat next to Ryou and gave him a smile that had Ryou inching away. Thief started picking at his nails the second he sat down. I sighed and followed Bakura out into the hallway.

"What is it?" I wondered.

"Did you think about what I said yesterday?" Bakura wondered, leaning on the lockers. He folded his arms over his chest and fixed his brown eyes on me.

"About?"

"Escaping."

"Oh…" I flushed, shoving my hands into my pockets so I wouldn't play with my hair. "No, I haven't."

"Bullshit."

"Huh?"

"Don't lie to me, Marik, and then play dumb when I call you out on it." He ordered. He brushed a stray hair to the side.

"Why do you think I'm lying?"

"You want a short list, or a long one?"

"Short is fine." I glared.

He laughed, not finding me intimidating in any manner. "You're getting defensive, your face is red, the corner of your mouth twitched after you finished speaking, you won't look at me when you say it, you twisted your toe into the ground as you spoke…"

"I thought I said short list."

"That _was_ the short list."

I cocked my head to the side and gave him a look.

"My god, you're feminine." Bakura informed.

"You're not exactly the epitome of manliness either, you know."

He glared. "No one said in was. Shut up."

"You started it."

"No wonder Yami calls you Fruitcake."

"You don't want to know what people call _you_."

"No one calls me anything." Bakura said. "They're all too afraid of me. Try again, Fruitcake."

I snarled. "Why are you such an asshole in school?"

"I have a reputation, you know."

"So what? We're alone."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't understand, Malik."

I glared. Bakura laughed. "So you've thought about it, hm? Any idea how you're going to go about it?"

"I was thinking about it, but that doesn't mean I'm going to decide to do it." I shook my head at him. "In fact, I'm _sure_ I'm not going to do it."

"Why not?" Bakura cocked an eyebrow and smirked. "Scared?"

"No, I'm not scared." I shook my head again.

"Stop doing that. You'll bruise your little brain. Poor little thing, being tossed about in that big open space." Bakura tsked at me.

"Your mind games won't work on me today, Bakura." I informed him.

"Whatever." An eye roll. "So why aren't you going to do it, hm?"

"We already have a plan of escape when we're all eighteen." I said. "Or, at least, when Odion's eighteen and has the money to move out. Ishizu and I will just go with him."

"So you're going to wait for your brother to be able to financially support you two before moving out? Pretty selfish, if you ask me."

I bawled my fist, the want to punch the smirk off his face ringing bells in my mind. I held back, knowing I'd be in bigger trouble then I already was if we fought again. And me hitting him was definitely an excuse for Bakura to kick my ass. Not that he needed an excuse, but at least he could say that he didn't start it.

Bakura chuckled and made his way to the cafeteria doors. He grabbed the handle before turning over his shoulder to look at me.

"Well, when you're ready to grow a pair and be a man and call for help to get out, I know a case worker that would be more then happy to assist you." He offered. "She's pretty good, too."

I started to speak, but stopped when he cut me off.

"But, until then, I guess I'll just have to wait and see how long it is before your dad does permanent damage." He said. "I'll meet you outside after school. Ciao." He flipped his wrist in a rather feminine wave and disappeared back into the cafeteria.

I wondered briefly if it was his own case worker he was talking about? Then again, I was surprised he had _any_ faith in the system. If I'd been bounced around from foster home to foster home my whole life, I wouldn't trust it whatsoever. But then again, he _was_ adopted by his current parents. So the system had worked for him in the end. Still, the fact that he was offering to help me out by referring me to a good case worker was a surprise in and of itself. Maybe he'd noticed the slight parallels in our lives and was thus able to relate to me better now? Were we really getting closer? Maybe eventually, I'd be comfortable enough with him, and he'd be comfortable enough with me, for me to tell him how I feel…

"Yeah right." I thought to myself. "Like I'd ever admit it to him…" I sighed before pulling open the cafeteria door and entering the chaotic room.


	12. Teenage Dream

Dlbn: Hey there, everyone, and welcome to another update!

Nbld: We're actually on time for this one. It's been 7 days since the last update. That's unusual for us O.o

Dlbn: Indeed.

Nbld: well, let's get going, shall we? Review Corner! Thank you to RandomSpazz-chan, VampirePrinssess, AnonymousGuest, Nightwitch1312, OtEpShAmAyA, and impurepet for reviewing! Jack-O-Lanterns for you all!

RandomSpazz-chan: Bakura just can't catch a break, can he? Haha poor Yami XD Glad you're enjoying! :D

VampirePrinssess: He's got some good in him; he just only lets certain people see it. They'll be in the story more during the chapters featuring Marik at Bakura's home. They're Bakura's friends, after all. ^^ Glad you enjoyed!

AnonymousGuest: You can say that again XD To quote peter Griffin on Family Guy "it's the vibrations" XD It'll be a while before Marik makes his final decision on the matter.

Nightwitch1312: It's my favorite YuGiOh pairing. I blame YuGiOh The Abridged for getting me into it XD Aww :3

OtEpShAmAyA: Hooked like a fishy? Hehe ^^ The YuGiOh wikia said that sometimes in the anime, Bakura's eyes switch from brown to green. I used that as the basis for his eye color. But yeah, it helps tell them apart, too XD I haven't seen it in a while either (Looks at VHS tapes of it) Eh, another time XD I started watching YuGiOh Zexal and got hooked…but now it's on at 8 am on Saturdays, and I won't get up that early XD Hooray for Thiefshipping! The wait is almost over! :D

Impurepet: Aw thank you! That means a lot! :3 Haha I don't know how far I'll go with it (I don't want to drag it out too long) But it's already in double digits, so we're on our way to triple! :D Aw thank you!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own YuGiOh or any characters contained within. They all belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of writing in this category. I only have fun.

000

The final bell of the day rang and startled me from my thoughts. Finally, I would be able to go spend more time with Bakura. I grinned like an idiot to myself as I pushed open the front doors to the school. Once they were opened, I hid the grin behind a look of indifference. I looked around the nearly-empty lot for Bakura, but didn't see him. Serenity was leaning on a tree in the school yard with my sister and Mai at her sides. Ishizu looked my way and mouthed 'I need to talk to you' to me. I sighed and walked over to answer her, like an obedient little puppy.

"Yes, Ishizu?" I wondered.

"What did Bakura want?" She asked quickly.

"Wow, straight to the point, Zu." Serenity giggled, hiding her mouth behind one hand.

"Well?"Ishizu asked, ignoring her friend.

"Just to talk about where to meet him after school." I replied. "You haven't seen him, have you?"

"No." Ishizu said. "Stop lying. What did he really want?"

"I'm not lying."

"I know you are."

Talk about dejá vu. "How do you know I'm lying?"

"You hesitated."

Well, at least she wasn't able to read me as well as Bakura. The thought made me flush a little. Why did some guy who I hardly knew, but was mostly-secretly in love with, know me better then my own sister? She saw my flush and misinterpreted it.

"So you _were_ lying."

"No, I'm not." I rolled my eyes and folded my arms over my chest. "I'm just thinking about something is all."

"Something that made you blush?" She cocked an eyebrow at me.

From the tone of her voice, I knew what she was thinking.

"Nothing like that, you hentai." I informed, sticking my tongue out at her.

She glared. "I'm not a hentai." She said. "You're a teenage male, and you probably should be thinking about those kinds of things, anyway."

I could hear the _about someone else_ that would have come with that sentence had her friends not been there. At least she was willing to keep it secret from them. Ryou was the only one other then my siblings and me to know, and I intended on keeping it that way. At least until I told Bakura. Which I didn't think I'd ever do. Sure, he didn't care if people were gay or not, but I wondered if that would change when it came to real-world application.

"If he's causing you trouble, I want you to do something about it, got me?" Ishizu snapped.

"He's not doing anything." I said. "We're on thin ice as it is. He won't do something stupid."

"He always does stupid shit."

"Ishizu!" Mai scolded.

I'd heard Ishizu swear once or twice before in passing, but it still surprised me a little bit.

"What's Ishizu doing wrong?" Ryou asked, coming up behind me and putting an arm on my shoulder.

It was a little awkward, considering that he was shorter then I was.

"She said 'shit'." Serenity said, hands flying to cover her mouth. "Sorry!"

Unlike her older brother, Joey, Serenity had some kind of issue with swearing. Something about it not being 'becoming of a young lady' or some bullshit like that. I wondered who had put that in her head. Probably their mother. It seemed like something Mrs. Wheeler would do, based on stories I'd heard from Joey.

"Oh, it's no big deal." Ryou waved it off. "It's not like it was the f-word or something."

"True."

The front doors to the school opened quickly, slamming against the walls. We all turned to see what the commotion was about. Principal Kaiba dragged Bakura and Thief out by the arms and lightly threw him towards the steps.

"You're both suspended for next week, you got me?" He growled.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you." Bakura sneered at him.

"Whatever." Thief shrugged, obviously not caring much either way.

The Principal huffed, fixed his tie, and went back into the building. Thief and Bakura looked at one another and started laughing as they made their way down the steps.

"They're no good." Ishizu muttered, folding her arms. "None of those idiots are."

"I wonder why Yami isn't with them." Ryou pointed out.

"Probably didn't get caught." I shrugged.

"No, he left earlier today." Mai said. "I don't know why, but his parents picked him up right after lunch. I guess they had something more important then school to attend to."

"Probably a court hearing." Serenity giggled.

"Most likely." Ishizu laughed loudly.

Bakura heard her and turned to face me and the others. He nodded at me with his head once, and I returned the greeting with the wiggling of my fingers. He went back to talking to Thief.

"I better get going, I guess." I said. "See you all later."

"Call em when he leaves." Ryou ordered. "And before your dad comes home. We have to figure out tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright, alright." I nodded.

Thief left Bakura where he was, waving as he left. Bakura turned to face me and folded his arms over his chest. He took a 'don't keep me waiting' stance and sent a matching glare my way.

I grinned ear to ear in response, noticing his lip twitch in irritation as I did so. Score for Marik.

"See you later." I didn't wait for anyone to reply before walking over to Bakura. "What did you do?" I asked him once I was close enough to him.

"I'll explain later." Bakura said. "Let's just say that the gym won't be in use again for a few days."

"Good, I hate gym class."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Let's get out of here. They're making me really uncomfortable…" He looked at my sister and the others.

Ryou was watching us with his hands on his hips. Though he understood that I was in love with the white-haired male, he still didn't trust Bakura. I knew Ishizu would never trust him, and I doubted Serenity and Mai did either.

"Yeah, sorry about them." I said. "But you did cause a bit of scene."

"No, Gozoboro made a scene. Thief and I were just involved in it because of him." Bakura rolled his eyes.

We made our way to the bike rack.

"So what did you do then?" I wondered. "You had to do something to get him so mad."

"We used grout to seal all the doors and filled up the gym with water through a hose in the window. Thief threw in some frogs and goldfish." Bakura chuckled. "We made the school a nice fish tank. I don't see what he's so mad about."

I rolled my eyes. "Maybe the thousands of dollars worth of gym equipment that you probably ruined?"

Bakura chuckled. "Mission accomplished, then." He laughed as I handed him the helmet he used.

"Not funny, moron." I said. "You're lucky he only suspended you."

Bakura shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I'll hear about it from my parents later, but whatever. I still get to see you tomorrow, so I'm not totally screwed over."

I paused and flushed. He…was looking forward to seeing me?

"Don't take that as something that it's not." Bakura said. "I just won't be completely grounded is all."

I rolled my eyes, feeling my heart deflate from that. "I thought nothing of it." I lied. "I put on my helmet and straddled the bike, turning it on.

Once Bakura was on as well and was holding tightly to my waist, I took off to home.

000

For once, I didn't have chores to complete when I got home. It left me relieved because I didn't have to keep Bakura occupied while I worked, but frustrated because I had to keep him occupied while just lying around in my room. I flushed at the idea of actually 'lying around' with Bakura…in my bed…together…with no one home…I shook off the thoughts as I opened the door to my room. Odion had to work late, and Serenity and Mai were having a sleepover with my sister at Mai's house. That left the two of us alone in my house. We could've lounged around in the living room, but I didn't want to risk my father coming home early and seeing us. Okay, so having my father catch us alone in my room wasn't on the top of my 'hey, let's see what happens' list, but still. He most likely wouldn't come into my room if he thought no one was home, so we were safer in here then in the living room. Bakura flopped down on my bed, folding his arms behind his head on the pillow behind him. I shut the door and stared at him awkwardly. Bakura was lying down in my bed…oh, the things I could do…

"Like what you see, Marik?" Bakura wondered, smirking at me.

"Yeah, I do." I said without thinking. "What are you going to do about it?"

He seemed surprised. "What did you say?"

I realized my mistake and cursed under my breath. "Nothing."

"Really? Because it sounded like you just said that you like what you see, and challenged me to do something about it."

"N-No…"

"I know you're lying to me, Marik." Bakura sat up. "I've already told you this, so why bother lying?"

"I'm not…"

"Stop it, Blondie." Bakura ordered, standing up. He stalked closer to me, making me back up against the closed door.

"D-Don't call me that…"

"What are you stuttering for?" He wondered. "Think I'm gonna hurt you or something?"

"N-No…"

Bakura chuckled. "Malik…"

"Marik." I corrected, glaring at him.

He put a hand next to my head on the door. I gulped deep in my throat as I looked up an inch or so into his eyes. Emotionless, dark brown pools stared back down at me. What was he doing? He was close enough to kiss me…

I felt my jeans tightening slightly at the thought. Oh great, not now!

"Something wrong?" Bakura whispered.

"N-No…you're just…so close…" I muttered, looking away.

"Marik, look at me."

The tenderness in his voice made me look at him again. "Y-Yes, Bakura?"

Bakura smirked. He leaned down to me and pressed his lips to mine. My eyes widened like dinner plates. Bakura was…kissing me…? This couldn't be happening. His tongue slipped between my lips to rub prod against my own. I moaned as his knee slipped between mine and rubbed against the forming bulge; making it grow more. Oh god, this couldn't be happening…I was making out with the guy I was desperately in love with. This had to be a fantasy…right? He removed his hand from the door and twisted into my hair. He pulled my hair to angle my head backwards. Bakura pulled back from me all too soon. He pressed our foreheads together, panting heavily.

"I love you…Marik…" He whispered.

"W-what?" I asked softly.

"I should've told you before but…I'm gay and…I…kind of have a thing for you…" He blushed.

I didn't say anything for a moment. No way…

"Marik?" He wondered. "Are you okay?"

"Uh…"

"Marik?" He asked. "Marik? …Marik? …Marik?"

I blinked.

"_Marik Ishtar_." Bakura said harshly.

I snapped from my thoughts to see a slightly concerned Bakura staring at me. His left hand was still on the door, the right one on his hip.

"Are you alright? You look like you were hallucinating."

I blinked and looked down. The bulge in my jeans was still small and unnoticeable by looking. Bakura wasn't close to me. His lips weren't slightly swollen from a kiss.

"I…I'm fine…"

Damn…it was just a fantasy. My mind playing tricks on me. Shit.

"You don't seem it."

"No, I really am." I shook off the fantasy before it caused the bulge in my jeans to grow.

Bakura cocked an eyebrow. "Stop lying to me."

"What are you going to do about it?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes. "I still have to do something about your comment earlier." He smirked. "Like what you see, hm? Perhaps I should do something about it."

"Um…like what…?"

He leaned close to me and held my chin open. Surprised, I didn't know quite what to do in response. What was he planning on doing to me? Suddenly Bakura hacked as though he were clearing his throat. Then he spit. Right into my mouth. Gross!

"What the hell, Bakura?!" I screeched, spitting out his saliva and my own onto the floor.

He laughed as I used my fingers to clean off my tongue and spit onto the floor again. Luckily, it didn't leave a stain for my father to stumble upon and beat me over. But my mind wasn't on that idea at the moment. That was _not_ how I envisioned Bakura's saliva invading my mouth. Not that I'd envisioned it before. But I had figured that it would come from us making out passionately in bed; tongues dancing in a tango before and after he removed both of our shirts…I shook off the thought and glared at him.

"You're sick." I snarled.

"Aw, so you've figured it out?" He put a hand on his chest, seemingly touched. "You're finally a member of the club. Welcome."

I glared. "You're an asshole."

"I know."

I continued glaring, then sighed and relented. "Jackass."

Jackass or not, I would still do anything to kiss him and let him know how I felt.


	13. Fighter

Dlbn: Hey everyone, and welcome to another update!

Nbld: We would've had this done sooner, but we realized we didn't have enough written.

Dlbn: But we finished the chapter, so we're all good! We know it's a little long, but more to love, right? ;)

Nbld: Yup! Now it's time for the Review Corner! Thank you to Pharaoh Silver, Nightwitch1312, RandomSpazz-chan, VampirePrinssess, OtEpShAmAyA, and impurepet for reviewing! Plushies for you all!

Pharaoh Silver: Haha we hope! XD Haha nice. The Thiefshipping there was just a little teaser bit. It was all a fantasy Marik's mind was enacting. Slender army, go! XD Glad you liked!

Nightwitch1312: Haha that I was, sorry ;)

RandomSpazz-chan: Haha glad you liked XD I wasn't sure what to make him do, then I was like 'eh, let's go' XD Sure, go ahead XD

VampirePrinssess: Haha it counts in my book! :D Sorry about the tease hehe

OtEpShAmAyA: I would have too. Bad Bakura, that's disgusting! DX

Impurepet: Aww glad you liked ^^ It was one of my favorite parts to write as well. ^^ Yeah, it was a little ahrsh, I agree, but good for a laugh hehe. Glad you enjoyed!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bakura, Marik, Ishizu, or any other character from YuGiOh. They belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of writing in this category.

000

It took me about an hour to organize my stuff on the sidelines so I could vacuum and dust. Bakura had decided to spend his time with me digging through my stuff for 'incriminating evidence'. There wasn't anything he'd find, but if it kept him busy, it was fine. I didn't want him making a mess around the house for my siblings and me to be yelled at for later when my father got home.

"So, question." Bakura said, leafing through an old photo album.

"Yes?" I wondered.

"You said you had friends in Egypt, no?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I'm the one asking the questions here, Malik."

I glared at him. "Fine then."

"You said they never kept in contact with you?"

"Yeah."

"I don't see any pictures of them."

I shrugged.

"Are you lying to me about having friends back home?"

"No!" I argued, glaring at him. How dare he suggest such a thing? "Try a different album."

"I've looked through them all." Bakura informed, pointing what had once been a neat stack of photo albums.

I groaned at the slight mess. "Alright, so I don't have pictures. That means nothing."

"It means something."

"After we lost contact, I burned them in a bonfire in the backyard with my mother."

That shut him up for a few minutes.

"Why?"

"Why bother keeping memories of the past?" I wondered. "The past won't come back, and keeping photographs won't change that. It'll only make the memories that much stronger and thus hurt more."

He seemed to think that over for a moment. "That makes sense, I guess." He said. "But doesn't it just make the reality that they've basically abandoned you harder to bear? You'll always have the memories inside your head, just not photos to commemorate them."

"I know." I said. "I try not to think about them much. I don't need friends who up and vanish on me."

"Long distance friendships are like long distance relationships. They don't work out."

"Have you ever been in one?"

"Friendship or relationship?"

"…either."

"I didn't have friends back in Britain." He confessed. "I did have a certain…someone…but we drifted apart once I left. Never had an official breakup, but we both know it was over."

"If it's not official, then…"

"We're. Done." He seemed to grow more and more irritated with me.

"Okay, okay, I get it. You're on the market." I waved him off as he fixed me with a 'what the fuck' glare.

"Okay then…as long as you understand that."

"I do." I nodded.

We sat in silence for a minute. "So you're fine just having Ryou?"

"Huh?"

"Instead of your other friends being in your life as well, you're satisfied with Ryou being your only friend? And those idiots you sit with sometimes being companions at best?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine with that." What a lie. I wanted nothing more then for Ryou and me to always be friends, but I'd like for me and Bakura to be more in addition. "We're always together and I know if I had to move again, or if he had to ever move, we'd stay in contact."

"What makes you so sure that you would?"

"If you're trying to get me to doubt my friendship with Ryou…"

"I'm not." Bakura insisted. "Just offering an opinion."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure we would. He's my best friend. And to be honest, my friends in Egypt were mostly so we wouldn't get beat up. Strength in numbers, you know? Ryou and I…have a better connection."

"Do you think he likes you?"

"What?" I took a step back. "Where did that come from?"

"I've just…noticed certain things." Bakura shrugged. "You're always together, how protective he seems to be of you, some of the looks he gives you…kinda hard to ignore."

"I've…never noticed…" I flushed.

There was no way Ryou had feelings for me. I didn't even know if he was gay or not. Sure, I had a hunch, but he'd never expressly stated it. Not like I did.

Bakura shrugged. "I have." He said. "Same way I've noticed that Seto and Wheeler act like idiots around one another, but they secretly enjoy it."

"Yeah, they enjoy annoying each other."

"Nice try, Blondie, but that's not it." Bakura shook his head. "It's a horribly twisted method of flirting. Like in elementary school where a guy would pull the hair of a girl he liked because he didn't know how else to handle his feelings."

"You think they like one another?" I laughed. "Is everyone at school gay in your eyes?"

"Yugi and Atem sure are."

"Yeah, together." I snickered.

He laughed at that. I wondered if he could see through me as well…

000

The rest of the night had gone off without a hitch. We spent about an hour talking about people that we thought should just get together and get it over with, as well as other miscellaneous meaningless topics. It was like I was sitting there talking to Ryou, not Bakura. It surprised me how much we thought alike in the relationship department. He didn't seem to care whether we were discussing gay, lesbian, or heterosexual relationships; which was a plus for me. He was obviously open. Maybe he would be when I finally decided to open up to him. If I did. _Big_ if. Telling my father, on the other hand, was something that I knew would never happen. I knew he wouldn't react well to it; not that I thought he was homophobic, though he could be. I just didn't want him knowing anything about me other then my name. Which I wasn't sure he remembered half the time, anyway. Ishizu had been the unfortunate one to have to pick him up from the bar. When they returned home, he was stumbling around like a drunk fool, and she had a split lip, a couple scrapes, and a bruise on her cheek. I wanted to hit him myself, but he retreated to his study. I sat in the bathroom with Ishizu as she cleaned her wounds. She rubbed peroxide onto a cut on her left arm with a cotton ball and hissed in pain.

"What happened?" I asked softly.

"He freaked on me for dressing like a 'harlot'." Ishizu muttered.

I looked her over quickly. Hey, I'm gay, it was fine. She was wearing a white dress to just above her ankles, sandals, the necklace mom had given her, and a cropped leather jacket to cover her otherwise bare arms.

"You don't look like a harlot."

"Thanks." She groaned at the bruise on her cheek. "What am I going to do about _that_?"

"Makeup?" I offered.

She gave me a look. "There is no amount of makeup that will hide this." She informed. "At least it's the weekend, so no school. Maybe it'll clear by Monday."

"But you don't want to stay indoors all day to hide it, do you?"

"No." She sighed. "I guess I'll have to go with makeup. "Go get my kit form my room. The big one that you mistook for a tackle box."

"Okay…" I stood and left the bathroom to go to her room.

I heard my father snoring in his study and risked a peek through the crack between the door and the doorframe. He was slumped over his desk; one arm extended over the front of it, and the other at his side spilling the remains of his beer bottle onto the carpet. Drool was coming from his mouth and sticking to both the table and his grey beard. I silently scoffed, which made him stir, and left to get to Ishizu's room. Her room was at the end of the hall, so I just walked over and pushed it open. Her room was pretty neat compared to mine. A few posters she'd been given by her friends as birthday gifts were on the pale blue walls. The carpet in her room was a muddy brown color that contrasted the walls too much for my taste. The makeup kit she asked for sat on a dresser in the back left corner of her room; opposite of her bed. I walked over and picked up it. It felt pretty heavy, which made me wonder what in the world she was keeping in it. I shook the thoughts from my head and exited her room; careful to silently shut the door behind me. I crept back to the bathroom she was using to find her pulling her hair back into a ponytail; something I hadn't seen her wear since I was still in elementary school and she was in middle school.

"Here." I said. "Do you have a body in here? It's heavy."

She sat the box on the mini dresser containing towels and other toiletries, and opened it up.

"Maybe you're just weak and scrawny." She offered, looking over her makeup with a thoughtful look on her face.

"I am not." I argued.

"Sure you're not." She rolled her eyes and pulled out a seemingly flat, round container and a brush. She opened the container and dabbed the brush in it, before dusting the brush onto the bruise.

"Cover up?"

"Very good." She looked at me in the mirror. "You don't want to borrow, do you?"

"I don't need cover up." I informed, flushing. "Thank you very much."

Despite my seemingly lack of care for how I looked, I had pretty flawless skin. Minus a scratch or two on my arm from drunk dad once and a while, but those weren't there very often, or even visible at all when they occurred.

Ishizu cursed at her reflection and added more powder on the bruise.

"Do you have a different shade?" I wondered. "Darker might cover it up better."

"I want it to match my skin, smart one. I don't have anything darker." Ishizu rolled her eyes. She put the brush and powder down to check herself over in the mirror again. "Better?" She turned to me.

"A little cakey." I informed.

She looked in the mirror again and rubbed at the makeup a little. She turned back to me. "Better?"

"Much."

"It doesn't look wrong or obvious?"

"It looks okay to me." I shrugged. "Better check it outside in the sunlight, though."

"I guess." She sighed. She picked up the bottle of peroxide and put some on another cotton ball, before patting at a scratch again.

"Did anyone see?"

"If they did, they didn't care. Or they passed out before they could do anything." She joked with me. "They're useless, every last one of them."

"Just drunk bastards." I agreed.

She nodded. "Never drink, Marik. It does horrible things to a person."

"I know." I said. "I've seen enough of it over the years since mom passed."

Neither of us spoke again after that.

000

I leaned on the wall outside the movie theatre the next day to wait for Bakura. He said his parents were insisting on dropping him off at the mall themselves, but he was trying to fight it. His friends were going to leave them alone until it was time for us to split. I was secretly dreading having to split from Bakura, but I knew it was necessary. If I asked to hang out with him longer, he'd get suspicious. Plus, I wouldn't be able to go to Ryou's later to hang out. I had called Ryou up after Bakura left, like promised, and he had invited me over. His parents were pretty nice and treated me like a son too. I liked hanging out over there, but I'd never bring Ryou to my house again. Not after the first time.

A sleek, silver sports car pulled up to the curb near where I was waiting. Bakura got out, muttered something angrily to the other two occupants, and slammed the door behind him. He walked over to me; his hands in his pockets and his trench coat blowing out from the wind getting underneath it. The two people in the front were most likely his parents. The woman in the passenger seat was wearing sunglasses and had her black hair in a high ponytail. She smiled with red painted lips at me and flicked a graceful wrist at me in a wave; which I returned. The man driving had short brown hair and also wore sunglasses. He merely nodded in my direction.

"Don't be too friendly." Bakura ordered me, once he was close enough. "Come on, I have errands to run in here." He grabbed me by the arm as I waved goodbye to his parents and dragged me through the double door entrance to the local mall.

The mall was three floors and had a parking garage on the backside. I had walked over, so I didn't need to go into it unless I wanted to loiter or cause trouble.

"Errands, hm?" I wondered, pulling my arm away. "Like what?"

"Mo…Edina's birthday."

"Edina?"

"My…er…mother." He spat out the word like he didn't like it.

"I thought you liked your parents."

"They're okay, but I don't like referring to them as my parents. They're not my parents."

"They're raising you and looking after you, so I'd say that makes them that."

"Your father doesn't do that."

"He's a drunk asshole." I muttered.

Bakura laughed. "I can't argue with that." He said. "Now, what do women like for gifts?"

"Jewelry?"

"She's my mother, not my wife."

"Okay…er…perfume?"

"That's a great idea." He said sarcastically. "Instead of saying 'happy birthday', I'm telling her that she smells bad."

I gave him a look. "I'm offering advice."

"Your advice sucks."

"Money?"

"Er…_dad_ said I have to actually buy her something."

"And you're going to listen?"

He shrugged. "I guess I am. Sure seems that way, doesn't it?"

"Are you sick, Bakura?" I put the back of my hand to his forehead. "You're acting very OOC today."

He slapped my hand away. "Shut it, Malik." He ordered me.

I laughed.

"Your name's Malik? Damn, I've been calling you 'Marik' for so long now…" A voice I recognized as one of dad's drunk friends addressed me.

I groaned inwardly.

"Who's that?" Bakura looked at me strangely.

"Dad's friend." I turned to the blonde male. "It's Marik. Bakura calls me Malik to annoy me is all."

"Is this your boyfriend then, fruitcake?" He laughed loudly and I smelled alcohol on his breath.

Bakura cocked an eyebrow.

"No, he's just a friend from school." I replied, trying my damnedest to hide my blush.

"So you're single then? Good to know." He put an arm around my neck.

I felt my skin crawl as I tried to pull away. "Not my type, sorry." I replied.

He held tighter. "Oh, come on. I bet I could show you the grownup side of the world, hm?" He ran a finger down my cheek.

"Stop." I ordered.

"Make me, kiddo." He leaned down and tried to kiss me, but Bakura pulled me out from under his arm.

"He sad to stop it." Bakura informed, folding his arms and stepping in between us. "I suggest you do so and move along."

The man cocked an eye at Bakura. "And what are _you_ going to do about it, _kid_?" He reached out and shoved Bakura's shoulder.

Bakura took a step back and growled at the man. "Put your hand on me or him _one more time_ and watch what I do to you."

"Are you threatening me? I'll have you know that I'm a lawyer."

"Oh yeah? Probably so you can get your drinking buddies out of troubles with their DWIs, huh?" Bakura smirked.

I knew he liked to fight, but this was stupid. This guy was drunk, first off, and second; Bakura was in enough trouble as it was, without this added to it. But he was defending me. I felt my heart sour at the thought, but I didn't let it show.

"You wanna go, brat?" The man swung at Bakura, only to have his fist stopped by Bakura's in the blink of an eye. "Huh?" He swung with his other hand, but Bakura caught that one too.

"Hey, guess what." Bakura told him.

"What?" The man snarled.

Bakura slammed his forehead into the man's and tossed him to the side by the fists. The man went flying into the nearby water fountain. By now, a group of people had gathered around us to watch the scene. The man groaned as he tried to stand up, but he slipped and clocked his head against the fountain. Bakura laughed at that.

"I told you not to touch me." Bakura informed.

The man groaned and used the side of the fountain to pull himself up. He was slumped over and bleeding, but he didn't seem fazed. But the fact that he was drunk made it unsurprising to me. He stumbled in our direction, despite people's attempts to grab and stop him. He formed a fist in his left hand and rushed at us. Bakura ducked down and put his leg out. The guy tripped over his leg and then was sent crashing to the ground when Bakura slammed his elbow into his back. I had to step back to avoid the guy landing on my shoes. He tried to grab at my ankle, but I kicked him off and away from me.

"Don't touch me either." I ordered. "You're drunk, you old pervert."

He scrambled up and reached for me again, but Bakura grabbed him by the collar and slammed him down to the ground on his back.

Bakura leaned close to the man. "He said not to touch him." He growled. "If you really want your ass beat, keep coming at us."

The man stared at him with frightened eyes until Bakura cocked a smirk and backed away. I heard whistles and looked over. Mall Security Officers were coming over on Segways. I groaned. I didn't need this…

"What is going on over here?" The thinner, balding one asked.

The two of them surveyed the area as I sidled up next to Bakura. Uniformed personnel scared me a little, even if they were only Security Guards.

"Well, that disgrace of a human being is drunk off his ass." Bakura pointed. "He wouldn't leave my friend alone, and kept touching him, so I pulled him away. He attacked me, and I fought back."

The grey haired one groaned. "Bakura, seriously?" He wondered. "Don't I see enough of you around here, causing trouble with your usual friends? Why are you bringing some new kid into your troubles?"

"It wasn't Bakura's fault!" I informed. "He put his arm around me and kept making advances, but wouldn't stop when I said to. Bakura just got him off of me and defended me is all."

The two guards looked at one another.

"I'd like to believe you, kid, but due to Bakura's history…"

"It's true." An older woman told the officers. "The drunk, older man wouldn't get his hands off of this one here." She pointed to me. "He did what any good friend would do and helped him out of a mess. I saw the whole thing."

"Well…"

"I saw it too!" A teenager with a skateboard under his arm added. "Pervert asked him if he was single, then kept trying to put moves on him. The old man struck first, though!"

"He pushed the one in the coat, and he told him to not do it again, but he did and the boy reacted." The woman went on. "Let them go, please, would you?"

The officers shared a look and talked it over quietly.

"Alright, you boys can go, now, but keep out of more trouble, alright?" The balding one got off his Segway and hauled the drunk to his feet. "On the other hand, you're coming with us for public intoxication and assault on a minor." He hopped back on the Segway, pulling the drunk behind him by the arm.

People clapped and parted for the officers as they left. The crowd began to disperse; but the woman and the teen that helped us stayed behind.

"No one's…ever done that for me before…" Bakura informed them.

"He means 'thank you'." I smiled at them. "From both of us." I elbowed the silverette in the gut.

"Just doing what's right, hon." She smiled at me. "Just stay out of trouble, okay?"

"We will." We both answered.

She walked off. The teenager smiled at us.

"I can't believe you two are hanging together." He laughed, flipping his hair out of his eyes with a twist of his head.

Who was he?

"Zip it." Bakura ordered. "You never saw us." He handed him a twenty from his pocket. "Take this, and forget what you saw here, hm?"

The boy shook his head and declined the money. "I saw nothing." He winked, then hopped on his skateboard and took off.

"So…um…thanks…" I told Bakura.

He jammed his hands in his pockets. "No big deal." He shrugged one shoulder. "I hate drunks, and I hate perverts. He combined both of them. Then he touched me. I don't let a lot of people do that."

Just to test him, I put my hand on his shoulder. He looked from my hand to my face, then back to my hand, my face again, and a last time at my hand.

"You're not funny." He took a hand from his pocket and peeled it off.

"So I'm one of the people that can touch you, then?" I laughed. "Good to know."

He rolled his eyes. "I told you I don't like perverts, Malik." He winked and walked away form me.

"Wait a minute…if you're the one who thought of that first, doesn't that make _you_ the pervert, Bakura?"

He laughed as he walked.

"Bakura?" I chased after him.


	14. If You Can Afford Me

Dlbn: hey there, everyone! We're back with another update!

Nbld: Is this the second week in a row we've posted on a Monday?

Dlbn: I think so. O.o

Nbld: I know, I'm scared to!

Dlbn: Let's not talk about this anymore, then.

Nbld: Good idea. Let's get to the Review Corner! Thank you to Pharaoh Silver, OtEpShAmAyA, wolfairer, impurepet, Nightwitch1312, xXAnachronIsmEpsIceXx, VampirePrinssess, and RandomSpazz-chan for reviewing! Chocolates for you all!

Pharaoh Silver: yeah, pretty much, in their own ways XD Life's more fun when you have a dirty mind ;) Where in the world did he hear that? That's the bigger question O.o I've got some people I know that Bakura can send to the Shadow Realm if he wants to send away anything. Save the microwaves! They're needed for ramen and other goodness! No one's sane. Let Marik have his fun hehe Nice from Marik and Bakura at the end there XD I read it in Abridged voices XD

OtEpShAmAyA: Puppyshipping is really the only Seto pairing I like ^^" I don't mind Joey with Tristan or Yugi either, though :D Of course no one touches Marik with Bakura there. He knows about Marik's dad, so he won't let other people hurt Marik as well, it seems. ^^

Wolfairer: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy :)

Impurepet: Yeah, it pretty much is, isn't it? ^^ What a nice date. Creepy old drunk guy hits on Marik, Bakura beats him up. How kawaii :3 I'm so sorry about missing your review! There was a chapter 11 review between the chapter 12 one and your chapter 12 review. I missed it once I saw the 11, thinking it was the end. So sorry for the mistake! (Gives you a plushie) Aw, thanks. I'll always keep that in mind. I love writing things that make other people happy ^^

Nightwitch1312: Glad to hear it! :D I always find time ^^ It's so sweet of Bakura to do that for Marik, considering that they're just acquaintances at this point. Perhaps he thinks of him as a friend? ;)

xXAnachronIsmEpsIceXx: I'm glad you're enjoying ^^ Okay, I won't say who he is, promise :D Thank you for doing so. I'm honored ^^

VampirePrinssess: Well, at least his family does XD Marik's test was funny XD I love the idea of Bakura trying to help out the obviously uncomfortable Marik. Someone's gotta defend him when he can't get away for long enough to throw in a good punch ;) Thank you!

RandomSpazz-chan: Glad you're enjoying! It was one of my favorite chapters ^^ Haha nice XD *Hugs back* Thank you!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Marik, Bakura, or anyone else related to YuGiOh, as I do not own YuGiOh. It all belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. I also don't own Macy's.

Dedication: This is dedicated to impurepet. So sorry for the mistake! *Hugs*

000

Bakura and I entered a Macy's on the third floor of the mall a little over an hour after the incident with dad's drunk friend. I knew the guy was going to say something to my father, and I really didn't want to go home to deal with the beating. I didn't want to go to school injured tomorrow, because if people found out that both my sister and I were injured, it would raise questions from the staff. But if it happened, then it happened. I could always ask Ishizu for help cleaning up anyway.

"I still have no idea what to get the woman." Bakura moaned, looking over some earrings on a display.

"What does she like?"

"Working and expensive things."

"Well…"

"I can't do expensive, and I can't do work. So I'm out of options. Next page in your Gift Buying Guide, Einstein."

"Don't get snippy with me when _you're_ the one who asked me to give you a hand, Fighter."

Bakura smirked at me. "Any other ideas, Marik, seriously?"

"Um…what's her favorite color?"

"Is there a suggestion that's going to follow this, or are you going to tell me which Power Ranger I'm the most like?"

"Haha." I rolled my eyes. "Taken a personality quiz over that before, Bakura? Because you seem to know the layout of one."

He chuckled. "You wouldn't have taken me seriously if you yourself hadn't taken one, Malik."

I started to retaliate with a jab of my own, but I reconsidered and slowly shook my head instead. "Just answer the question, ass."

Bakura laughed. "Green? No…I think blue…er…."

"You don't know?"

"Do you know _your_ family members' favorite colors?"

"Odion likes red, I like purple, Ishizu likes blue, mom liked pink, dad likes orange." I replied.

Bakura blinked. "Well, damn. Way to make me look like a prick."

"You always look like a prick."

Bakura looked at me, confused. "So when you look at me, you see a prick?" He wondered. "I didn't know you swung that way, Marik."

I laughed it off, not wanting him to know that I did 'swing that way' just yet. "You know what I meant, asshole."

"Pricks and assholes. Wow, Marik, it's _really_ piling up." Bakura smirked and walked to another table with jewelry on it.

"What is?"

"The evidence."

I rolled my eyes and joined him, running my finger tips down his arm. "Oh really, now." I winked at him when he gave me a look.

It took a moment for the joke to sink into his brain, but Bakura smiled after a while before laughing. "You're so weird."

"Thanks."

"If you see anything buy-worthy, let me know."

"Alright." I continued browsing the jewelry counters for something nice, but not so expensive that Bakura couldn't afford it. "How much money are we working with here?"

"Not your business."

"I need to know if there's a maximum you'll pay."

"Fine…er…forty bucks max."

"Alright." I sighed and moved onto a clearance table. I still didn't really see anything worthwhile. "Maybe we should try looking for something else." I suggested.  
"Maybe." He muttered, running his eyes over necklaces in a locked case.

"Too expensive, Bakura."

"I'm aware of this." He nodded his head.

"Could I help you boys with something?" The girl behind the counter wondered. "We don't get many teenage boys in this section." She twirled her black hair around her fingers and smiled flirtatiously.

"Uh…yea, I guess you can help." Bakura shrugged. "I'm getting a birthday gift."

"For your girlfriend?" Her face seemed to fall a bit.

"No, my mother."

Her face lit up again. "Does your mother have her ears pierced?"

"I don't freaking know."

I knew he was going to say something worse, but he held back for the counter girl.

"Does she wear necklaces or bracelets?"

"Uh…my father bought her a bracelet once, but I don't think she wears it."

"And a necklace?"

"Uh…I don't know."

I rolled my eyes at him and gave the girl one of my most charming 'hi, I'm harmless' smiles. "Do you think you could just give us a suggestion without background information?" I wondered. "As you can see, he can't really provide any."

Her eyes sparkled. "Oh, are you two brothers?" She wondered.

"Do we look like we're related?" Bakura wondered, smirking. "Open your eyes, honey."

She giggled at that. "Well, I just figured that since he's helping you, it must be his mother as well."

"Maybe one day." Bakura smirked in my direction and I knew that it wasn't good. He hooked his finger in my belt loop and pulled me close to him. "Right, Mar?"

I blushed. "Sure thing, Kura." I smiled at him.

_Oh, come on, Bakura, come out of the closet already so I can jump you._

Her smile didn't diminish. "For your mother, I suggest maybe a nice mother necklace." She told him. "I'll go get a couple. They have sweet sayings on them."

"Nothing too girly!" Bakura called after her, but she was gone and didn't seem to hear. He sighed in irritation.

"Um…Bakura…" I spoke.

"What?"

I looked down at his hand and he followed my gaze. Blushing like a tomato, Bakura pulled away from me. "Sorry." He said. "I like to mess with people…"

"I'm aware." I laughed. "Just thought I'd let you know. You know, in case anyone from school is around and gets the wrong idea."

"True." He nodded.

The girl came back and I resumed the 'shopping with my man' position next to Bakura. She placed four necklaces on cardboard backings in front of us on the counter.

"Well?" She wondered.

Each one was sappy enough to make me want to vomit, and remind me of how much I missed my mother. My siblings and I would make her cards every year with our father. He would, of course, by her a gift and just put all of our names on it. But working with our father to make those cards were the only good memories I had of him.

"Mar!" Bakura called me out of my hypnotic state with the little nickname he'd decided was good to call me.

"Huh?" I wondered, looking at him.

"I said, what do you think about this one?"

The one he'd chosen didn't have writing on the cardboard like all the others did, but it was a silver heart with a red ruby in the center. It said 'Mom' on the ruby in silver writing.

"It's cute, Kura." I said. I looked over the others again, but I didn't really like any of them. "How much?" I asked the girl.

"That one is twenty-five." She said. "We're having a half off sale today."

"I guess this is the one, then." Bakura smiled. "Thanks. We have more shopping to do, so is it cool if we just buy this at a different register when we're done?"

"Of course."She grinned. "You two lovelies have a nice day!" She spotted a couple looking at rings and bounded over to assist them.

Bakura grabbed me by the hand, interlacing our fingers, as we passed by the couple and the worker. The girl smiled at us and waved us off. Once we were out of her line of sight, Bakura let go of my hand.

"Sorry. Just wanted to play with her a little more."

"You go ahead and do that." I responded, fighting a blush. "What else are we looking for?"

"Nothing." Bakura informed.

"What do you mean 'nothing'?" I asked. "They why don't you just pay for that and we can go somewhere else. Like the book store or something."

"Yeah, yeah, in a minute." He looked around a couple times before going in one direction.

I followed him between racks of clothes until he came to a stop near the back of the section, but not near the aisle yet.

"What are we doing here?" I wondered.

"Keep your voice down." He ordered me. "Let me do something, then we can leave."

"Um…okay…but what…" I watched him remove the necklace from the cardboard back. "Wait a minute, Bakura, what are you doing?" I harshly whispered to him.

"Shut _up_, Malik, and let me work here." He hissed. Once the necklace was off the backing, he stuck the backing in the pocket of a hoodie nearest him.

"Bakura…" I didn't like what he was doing. He wasn't going to shoplift with me around, was he?

"Zip it." He shoved the necklace deep into one of his jeans pockets.

Once he was sure it was secure enough, he grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me along to the other side of the store. I had no choice but to follow as he pulled me through the store to the escalators. He brought me onto the down one.

"Just act natural, okay?" He asked me. "I'm begging you, here, Marik. For me, please?"

He did something with his eyes that made me think it over. The guy I was in love with was asking for me to cover his shoplifting of a gift for his mother. Pretty low, and I didn't want to get into legal trouble if we were caught. But then again, I owed him for saving me from the pervert…I thought it over as we approached the bottom of the escalators and nodded.

"Good." He smiled. "I'll give you a reward if this goes through good, alright?" He whispered. He spotted some workers and laughed. "So the guy almost got hit by the car coming down the road. What the hell was he thinking?" He pretended to tell me a story.

"No idea." I laughed back. "But he didn't hear it?"

"Not with his headphones on." Bakura said. "I swear, he was listening to some slow, girly song, but I could hear the lyrics loud and clear like rock music."

We both laughed at that as we passed the workers. He kept up the story, and I responded where it was appropriate. Once we were out of their eyesight and hearing range, he stopped the false story.

"You're good at this."

"I've played the bullshitting game my whole life, Kura." I informed. "This is merely more practice."

"Alright, enough with the nickname." He said. "The girl's not around anymore."

"But I think I rather like calling you Kura instead." I said. "Rolls off the tongue quite easily, does it not?"

He glared. "You're lucky I'm on a mission here, or I'd beat your ass right here."

Well, so much for playing around.

"I was just kidding, sheesh." I muttered, punching him lightly in the arm. "You should know I wouldn't be that much of an ass to call you something that you ask me not to."

"Kiss ass." He smirked.

Okay, so now he was back to joking. Stupid Bakura…

I felt my heart begin to race as we neared the entrance to the second floor of the mall from Macy's. What if the alarm detectors went off? Just because we didn't actually see anything on the necklace itself that would make the detectors go off., it didn't mean that there wasn't something there. What if guards had seen us on the security footage or the workers thought we were being suspicious? A million ideas raced through my mind of how bad of an idea this was, but I kept a straight face and continued my dialogue with Bakura to seem less suspicious. Bakura passed through the detectors a few moments before I did. I waited for the machine to go off, but no noise came. After we passed three stores, I looked back and saw that no one was at the entrance to Macy's or following us. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"That wasn't so hard, now, was it?" Bakura wondered.

"I think I almost had a panic attack." I said, putting a hand on my chest. "You really do owe me big time for this, Bakura. It was a damn half off gift for your mother."

"Now it's a free gift for my mother."

"What if she asks for a receipt?"

"I tell her I lost it, no big deal." Bakura shrugged. "I wish I had a case or a box to put this in…"

"Dollar store's downstairs." I informed. "And don't…" I looked around before whispering to him; "steal it." I sighed. "You can't be so low as to take a dollar object."

"Fine, fine, I'll do that part _your_ way, since you did my part _my _way." Bakura chuckled. "Now I did say I owe you, don't I?"

"Yeah, you did." I nodded.

"Come here." Bakura took me by the wrist and pulled me with him.

"You better not spit at me again, because that's just unsanitary."

"Oh no, no, nothing like that." He waved me off with his free hand. "You might actually like this repayment."

I sighed. What in the world was the white-haired teen planning on doing? I looked at stores as we passed them, ignoring the curious, and sometimes judging, stares that came our way. I made a mental note of places I wanted to visit when I hung out with Ryou later, because we both knew we'd end up here. We always did. Whether his parents would drive us or we felt like walking over-which was a pretty dangerous, about a half an hour walk-we'd somehow find our way there and always find a new store to try out on the map. But with Bakura dragging me around, I could look at stores and see if any sparked interest.

"Where are we going?" I asked Bakura.

"You'll like it."

"I doubt it."

He looked back at me. "Shut up, Mar." He winked before looking where he was going again.

I sighed and just let him lead me wherever the hell he wanted to go was. I was half curious as to what the place he was taking me to was, and half afraid to know the answer. Last time I followed him somewhere, I ended up suspended in the trees in the woods. Come to think of it, that was the incident that forced us to spend time together and get to know one another more. I smiled at the thought before I slammed into Bakura, who had stopped without saying anything.

"Damn, Bakura, warn a person!" I scolded.

"Warning, we're here." He chuckled.

I looked up to see that he had stopped in front of a chocolate store.

"Why are we here?"

"It's a store that exclusively sells chocolate." He said. "Why do you think we're here?" He took a free sample off of the tray near the door and popped it into his mouth, before handing me one as well.

I took it from him and ate it, letting the chocolate bathe over my tongue. "Mm…so good…" I couldn't remember the last time I had any chocolate. We weren't really big candy eaters in my house. We were when I was younger, but now that we were all older and dad's health insurance basically sucked, we couldn't risk doing damage to our teeth with the sugar. Plus, the old man would kill us if he had to spend any money on us. Odion was the one who did the bills, albeit using dad's checkbook, but my father didn't even want to know how much money he was putting into the house because that was supporting us as well.

"Today's their Free Sample day." Bakura said. "Every type of chocolate has a tray with free samples next to it."

"So we're here for lunch?"

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Since you were such a good little boy and helped me out earlier, pick what you like best, and I'll get you a bag of it, alright?"

"Wait, so you weren't willing to spend any money on your mother for her birthday, but you're willing to buy me chocolate to repay me for helping you get out of a jam caused by your cheapness?"

"Yeah."

"How does _that _make any sense?!"

He rolled his eyes at me. "Just shut up." He ordered. "And try free samples, pick what you want, and let me know so I can buy it and we can go wherever else."

I looked at my watch. "You know you're only stuck with me for another hour, right? There's not really much of a reason to rush around…"

"Maybe I want to spend a little more time with you, hm?" Bakura muttered, walking off to try another free sample.

I felt myself flush at that. Of course I hadn't considered _that_. I thought this was just a punishment to him. Did he…really enjoy my company? I felt myself get giddy about it as a large smile covered my face. I went to a sample tray of things I knew I liked. I just couldn't get the idea out of my head.

Bakura wanted to spend more time with me. Bakura. With _me_.


	15. Poker Face

Dlbn: Hey there everyone! And welcome to another (late) update!

Nbld: We were so rattled with a Halloween fanfic that we didn't get to get to this until now, sadly. But at least we're finally here!

Dlbn: Right, sis!

Nbld: So let's skip the witty banter and get straight to the Review Corner! Thank you to VampirePrinssess, impurepet, AnonymousGuest, DreamRain50, NightWitch1312, Dynamite and Soup, Pharaoh Silver, Pockyfiend, and OtEpShAmAyA for reviewing! Pocky and candy for you all!

VampirePrinssess: Of course Bakura couldn't resist. The temptation was right there. And besides, he had Marik. Who would suspect sweet little Marik of hanging with a thief? ;) He's an odd little guy like that. But it's adorable anyway ^^ Oh, Ryou is going to be pissed if Marik does that.

Impurepet: Hehe yay ^^ Bakura's got to come to terms with it eventually, does he not? He likes spending time with Marik, plain and simple. -Hugs Bakura- Aw, I'm glad to hear that my writing has that much of an impact. Here's to more smiles! :D

AnonymousGuest: Aw thankies ^^

DreamRain50: Aw, thanks. I'm glad you liked ^^ Bakura can be a little sweetie when he wants to be ;)

NightWitch1312: Aw, you're not stupid D: Thiefshipping can fix any ailment, that's for sure :D

Dynamite and Soup: Glad you enjoy! Haha it's okays ^^ Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. I can't tell yet ;) Thanks. That's one of my favorite lines in here ;)

Pharaoh Silver: Hehe don't deny it, Bakura. (Says his name in Marik's Abridged voice) Marik really should stop lying as well ;)

Pockyfiend: Aw thanks. Glad to hear that! :D Yeah, things are going slow, I admit, but I don't want to rush things. The plot is beginning to move along and pick up pace now, though ^^

OtEpShAmAyA: When he wants to be ;) Mostly when he's alone, though. His friends must be bad influences XD Glad you enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: I do NOT own YuGiOh or any characters contained within. They belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of writing in this category. I'm just a broke little fan-girl.

000

My phone had a total of seven missed calls when I finally checked it around nine o'clock. I sighed and clicked the button to open up the list. One was from Ishizu, but the other six were from the same person. I cursed as I noticed the time.

"Damn it!" I swore.

"What is it?" Bakura wondered, looking at me over the soda he was drinking from.

"I was supposed to walk to Ryou's three hours ago!" I groaned and leaned back in my chair. "I can't believe I forgot all about him!"

"There's always tomorrow, chill out."

"But…I promised him…"

I couldn't believe I forgot about my best, and only, friend! It was like I chose Bakura over him, which I'd never do. Sure, I loved the trouble maker more then anything, but friends always came first. Especially those who I'd known longer. Like Ryou. This was awful. Oh, I so owed him for this one. Double owed him. I sighed and decided to suck it up and redialed his number.

"About damn time!" Ryou swore at me. "I've been worried sick about you! Did he do something to you? Are you okay?!"

"Relax, Ryou, everything's fine." I replied. "I'm so sorry! I lost track of time and before I knew it…"

"Was your phone on silent again? Damn it, Marik, don't do that to me again!" Ryou scolded. "if you'd rather spend time with Bakura, just say it."

"No, that's not it!" I said. "We were just having such a good time, and I wasn't paying attention to the time like I should have been. I owe you double for this. No, triple!"

Ryou sighed in irritation. "Whatever, Marik. I'll see you Monday."

"Don't you want me to still come over?"

"Too late now." He said. "I'm busy. Bye."

He hung up before I could reply. I knew he was pissed, but it was really an innocent mistake!

"Well?" Bakura wondered. "Are you leaving?"

"No…he says he's busy…"

Bakura smiled slightly. "Good, I don't have to bail out yet then."

"Good?" I wondered. "What's gotten into you? You actually _want _to spend time with me now?"

"Well, yeah." He shrugged. "Whenever we're at your place, you're doing chores, and we just talk. Here there's no responsibilities, and we can just hang out. It's different."

I felt a shiver go up my spine. I really couldn't believe this…

"You look sick." Bakura glared at me. "You aren't, are you?"

"No, I'm not."

"Good, because that was _your_ soda." Bakura burped as he passed the drink to me.

"Lovely, Bakura. Very attractive." I took a sip form my soda.

"You think I'm very attractive?"

I spit out my drink. "What the hell?"

"Damn, Malik, the evidence is just _piling_ up."

I rolled my eyes. "Only you would make a sarcastic comment into _that_." I said, coughing.

He chuckled. "I suppose I'm a special one."

"You're special alright…"

His laughter was cut short and he glared at me. "Well played, Ishtar. Well played."

"Do you just _refuse_ to call me by my real name or something?" I wondered.

He smirked. "Perhaps I do, Fruitcake."

I kicked him in the shin, making him yelp and rub the sore spot.

"You know I hate that nickname." I informed him.

"I'm aware. You're feisty."

"Is that a good thing?"

"A very good thing." He winked at me, making me blush.

"More evidence." Bakura tsked and shook his head. "You have no Poker Face, Malik. Remind me to never play cards with you on my side, alright?"

"You can play in teams?"

Bakura gave me a 'are you serious' look. "You've never played cards, have you?"

"Um…no…"

"That's it, we're out of here." He stood quickly. "Grab your stuff."

"W-what? Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry."

Bakura shook his head and pulled me to my feet by the wrist.

"No, now stop it," He ordered. "I'm bringing you somewhere, but you can't tell anyone where, you got me?"

"This isn't somewhere I'll get arrested for being in if the cops come around, is it?"

He chuckled. "No, but this is a bit of a secret. Let's go." He said. "It's not far."

"Um…"

"Don't you trust me?"

"Huh?"

He smiled softly. "Don't you trust me?"

"Y-Yeah…I do…"

But trusting Bakura got me into this whole mess in the first place.

000

I was a bit of wary of where Bakura had brought me when I noticed we were going into the bad side of town. Not to mention the fact that it was nine at night, so it was pitch black. There were only a few streetlights lit, and most of the houses were rundown. I clung to Bakura's arm as fear raced up my spine.

"Bakura…I don't like this idea…" I told him.

"Don't be a baby, Malik." He ordered. "I come here every weekend. We'll be fine."

"Do your _parents_ know?"

"Does your dad know everywhere you go?"

"No, but Ishizu does…"

He frowned. "You can't tell her this."

"I know I can't. And I won't." I shook my head.

"Good. Promise me?"

"Yes."

"Swear on your life?"

"Swear on my life." I nodded, part of me knowing that I shouldn't.

He nodded and pulled me up towards a house. There were lights on inside, but it gave the house a very ominous feeling to it.

"Who lives here?" I wondered.

"No one." Bakura said.

"Someone does."

"Seriously, no one does." He argued. "That's candlelight in there, not electricity."

"Oh."

Bakura knocked on the door three times, paused for a moment, and knocked twice again. The door slowly opened to reveal Thief behind the door.

"We were wondering when you'd show up." He greeted. "Come on…what is _he_ doing here too?"

"Shut up, he's cool." Bakura argued, pushing me away slightly. "Move."

Thief shrugged and stepped to the side. "Welcome to Hell, Fruitcake." He greeted me, making me glare at him. "Enjoy your stay." He grabbed me and pulled me inside, practically shoving me into Bakura.

"Be nice, Thief." Bakura ordered. "Like I said, he's good."

Thief shrugged and shut the door, plunging us into darkness. I blinked several times to get my vision back into focus.

"Do you like the dark, Marik?" Yami wondered from the other room. "Because if you don't, you've come to the wrong place."

"I'm fine." I lied as I felt a hand grab my wrist and pull.

Bakura led me into the living room. Yami and two older men that I didn't recognize sat at a round table in the center of the room. They each sat on boxes. Candles were lit up on the table to provide the only light in the room.

"That's King and Chess." Bakura introduced, taking a seat next to Yami on a crate. "Guys, this is Marik."

"The guy you're stuck hanging with every day?" King wondered, running a hand through his jet black hair. "He's cute."

"Shut up." Bakura ordered, though he was flushing. "Marik's fine, alright?"

Chess smirked. "You got that right."

I blushed a little, laughing nervously. "Um…thank you…"

I didn't want a repeat of what happened with the pervert at the mall. Bakura shook his ehad at me and kicked out a crate.

"Sit." He ordered. "Marik here has never played Poker. I figure we should show him a good time."

"Good time, huh?" Thief looked me over. "Well, I'm not too sure about that, Bakura. I don't think he could take it."

"Huh?" I wondered.

Was that a gay sex joke or something? I flushed darker. "You guys are sick."

The others laughed at me, but Bakura was nice enough to at least try and hide it. He gave up his niceness after a few moments and threw his head back; laughing loud and manically.

"Took you a minute there, Malik." He informed. "Sit down now."

For some odd reason, I obeyed and took a seat next to him.

"Aw, he's like a sweet little puppy." Yami teased, slapping me harshly on the back. "You're alright, I guess, Malik. If Bakura likes you, I guess you're fine."

"Um…thanks…Yami…"

Bakura flushed and kicked his friend's shin. Yami rubbed his shin and rolled his eyes.

"Stop being such a brat." Yami ordered.

"Alright, alright." King waved them silent. "Thief? Deal another round. What's everyone betting?"

"Oh…um…I don't have money…" I informed.

"I've got you." Bakura informed, pulling out a ten. "Five for us both."

"You don't have to…" I started.

He just bought me lunch _and_ a bunch of chocolates. I couldn't ask him to pay for everything for me. I wasn't a charity case.

"Don't argue, Malik." Bakura pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Sorry…"

"Five for me, too." Yami threw in a five dollar bill.

"Ten." King threw in a ten dollar bill.

"Give me fifteen." Chess agreed.

"And I'm five too." Thief nodded once.

He dealt out five cards.

"You know how to play, Marik?" King wondered, lighting a cigarette.

I nodded. "I know the basic rules."

"Fine." King nodded. "So groups of two. Me and Chess, Thief and Yami, Marik and Bakura."

Everyone else nodded.

"Try to use whatever form of a Poker Face you can come up with, okay?" Bakura whispered.

"Alright." I agreed.

After a little while, Bakura and I were virtually broke. We'd won three hands; all because of Bakura. I really did suck.

"You need to relax a little, kind." Chess said to me. "Here, have one of these." He slid a can to me.

"Chess…" Bakura tried to stop him, but it was too late.

I caught the cold silver can in my hand and read the label. 'Budweiser'. "I don't drink alcohol." I said.

"Come on, put some hair on your chest."

"I refuse to drink alcohol." I argued back, sliding the can to him. "It's a personal thing, okay…"

Yami rolled his eyes. "I always knew you were a little odd, Marik, but come on." He said. "No one is this pathetic."

"People who poison themselves with that crap are the pathetic ones…" I muttered.

"Excuse me?" Thief wondered. "We all drink here. Right, Bakura?"

"You too?" I asked him.

Bakura shrugged. "Yeah, once and a while. I don't get completely plastered like an old drunkard, but I'll have a can once and a while."

I sighed.

"You sure you don't want?" Thief asked.

"If he says no, he says no." Bakura told him. "Don't push it."

"Where was that attitude when you idiots talked me into drinking for the first time, hm?" Thief wondered, sighing. "You must really like him, Bakura."

"I just know why he won't drink is all." Bakura shrugged. "Come on, less talk, more play."

000

It was two in the morning by the time I made it back home. I had had to help a drunken Bakura make his way to the mall to be picked up by his parents. After thanking me for a good night, he had bid me goodnight and kissed my cheek. I was still bright pink as his parents' car pulled away from the curb. I had rushed home as quickly as I could, hoping my father would be out with his friends by some miracle of chance. I used my key to unlock the front door and silently slipped in. I slid the deadbolt into place without making a sound and slipped out of my shoes. Carefully setting them on the shoe try near the door, I heard someone clear their throat.

When I turned, a light snapped on. My father was sitting on the couch, and he looked pissed. The house reeked of alcohol more so then usual. He must have been completely wasted, but the drunken look in his eyes seemed to have vanished. I gulped.

"You're late." He growled.

"I know." I replied. "I'm sorry. I lost track of time, and…"

"I talked to Tsuki earlier." My father stood.

Who the hell was…? Shit. That must've been the pervert at the mall.

"Your friend…roughed him up quite a bit." He walked closer to me.

"I'm sorry…" I said. "But he wouldn't stop…"

Before I could say more, my father slapped me, hard, across the face. I felt tiny bit of blood trickle from my lower lip.

"Tsuki is a good man." My father snarled. "He wouldn't do anything to you."

"He wouldn't take his hands off me…"

Another slap cut me off.

"He would never."

"I asked him to stop, but he wouldn't."

This time, it was a complete fist that collided with my cheek. I stumbled back into the door.

"Dad, please!" I begged. "Don't do this…it wasn't my fault!"

"No, it was your friend who did the beating." He grabbed me by the collar and slammed me hard into the door. "But since I can't go after him, I supposed I'll just have to settle for you."

I saw him reel back and gritted my teeth to prepare for the incoming blow. I closed my eyes as well. I didn't want to see this. It was bad enough that I had to feel it. My father's closed fist contacted harshly with my nose. I felt the bone crack and grabbed it as my father dropped me to the ground. A knee sent into my stomach had me sprawling on the floor. My father grabbed my white-blonde hair and pulled my head up a little.

"Seems my little Marik has a boyfriend, hm?" Father snarled. "I will not tolerate that."

"He's just a friend." I argued.

I shouldn't have argued back, but I didn't want him to get into an anti-homosexual rant that would hurt me more then any injury. He threw me back to the ground and huffed.

"Don't lie to me, you little brat…"

"I'm not…"

He kicked me once and leaned down to my face.

"Where's your boy toy now?" He wondered. "Nowhere, that's where. He's just gonna let poor little defenseless Marik get the shit kicked out of him. Some friend."

I growled. "Leave Bakura out of this!" I ordered.

"So that's his name, hm? I'll have to keep it in mind…" He said. "When my boys and I are through with your friend, you won't even recognize him."

That did it. I spit at my father, though I knew I would regret it. No matter what, I wouldn't _ever_ let him touch one hair on Bakura's head.

Enraged, my father threw me onto my back. "Get the _hell_ out of my house." He ordered, wiping saliva off of his face. "Now!"

I wasted no time grabbing my shoes and escaping out into the night.

000

The first place I thought of going was to Bakura. But I didn't know where he lived, so that ruled him out. My second choice was Ryou. Not wanting his parents to know the truth about my family, I made it to Ryou's house and went into the backyard. There was a tree back there whose branches led directly to Ryou's room. He had put a ladder on the tree in case I ever needed to sneak over in the middle of the night. Sadly, I noticed that there was no ladder this time. Shit, the one time I _needed_ it, and it wasn't here. I sighed and spotted a few rocks on the ground. I picked one up after wiping blood from my probably broken nose on my sleeve. I spotted Ryou's window and chuckled the rock at it. It collided with the window with a 'ping'. When nothing happened, I repeated the process. I got nothing from it and continued. Eventually, when I was almost out of rocks, the light in his room came on. Ryou opened the windows and leaned his head out. He looked around until he spotted me.

"I told you it was too late, Marik!" He growled at me.

"Please…Ryou…" I begged. "My father beat me…I think my nose is broken…"

Ryou sighed. "Sorry, Marik, but I can't do this right now."

"What?" Was he really so mad that he'd refuse to help me?

"I have company." He said. "And you were interrupting us."

"What are you doing at two am?"

"Not your business." He shook his head. "I'll see you in school, Marik, go home."

I could hear tears in his voice.

"Ryou, please, I'm sorry. I should have been more aware of the time. I was wrong…please…I need help…"

"I'm sorry." He went back into his room and shut the window.

"Ryou!" I hissed at him, tears flooding into my voice. "Please open up!"

When the lights snapped off, I knew my one chance at salvation was ruined. Letting tears fall from my eyes and mix with the blood from my nose and lip, I left Ryou's backyard. Well, now where would I go? I knew where the Moto brothers lived, but I didn't want them involved. The Kaiba family's home was easy to stop, but there were too many witnesses. Joey, Tea, and Tristain were out of the question as well. The only person I could think of was Bakura, but I had no way to find out where he lived. I also didn't want his parents knowing the truth of the hells of the Ishtar household.

Without any idea of where to go, since a hospital was completely insane, I just trudged down the dark streets alone. I hoped no one was around to take advantage of me, since I was injured and all. Along with my nose, my stomach hurt like hell. I wrapped one arm around my waist as I trudged down the streets. The only way this could get any worse was if it was raining. Or, at least, that's what I thought until a car pulled alongside me. Damn it. I thought I'd be in the clear at this time of night…I heard the car window go down, since it was automatic.

"Marik?" Thief's voice wondered.

I stop and turned to the car next to me. Thief was driving it, but he appeared to be alone.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Going for a walk…" I paused. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm locked out of my place, so I was gonna go to Bakura's to crash for the night…" He snapped on the overhead light in his car and turned back to me. "Do you want to…Oh my god, what happened to you?"

"N-Nothing…I got jumped…" I didn't want to tell him the truth.

"Come on." He opened his car door and got out. "Come with me to Bakura's. We'll figure out what to do from there. Bakura's good at patching people up."

"I…"

"Come on, I can't let you roam around here all night, can I?"

"That was my plan…"

And what Ryou was going to make me do.

"Come on, Marik. You've obviously injured." Thief said. "You're Bakura's. I won't do anything to you."

"I'm Bakura's…?" I wondered.

"Yeah. You're like part of the group, yet not part of the group." Thief shrugged. "Let's go, please?"

"O-Okay…"

That was where I wanted to go anyway. I got in the car with Thief. Hopefully I wasn't making a big mistake by seeking refuge with Bakura.


	16. Papercut

Dlbn: Hey everyone, and welcome to another update of "Lollipops and Chainsaws"!

Nbld: We're actually on time this week! My cousin spent the night last night and used my computer this morning, so I didn't feel like turning it off and have been on all day XD

Dlbn: Which means there was plenty of time to get writing.

Nbld: And how! So let's get to the best part! The Review Corner! Thank you to xChaoticDawnx, VampirePrinssess, AnonymousGuest, Pharaoh Silver, NightWitch1312, RandomSpazz-chan, xXAnachronIsmEpsIceXx, impurepet, OtEpShAmAyA, Randomlizzie, September Bloom, MiyuMiyu, and animelvr16 for reviewing! Here's some muffins for you all!

xChaoticDawnx: We're getting back on a roll now :D Marik definitely needs some loving now, after everything he's going through :( Glad you're enjoying! Aw, thank you :D

VampirePrinssess: I know someone who has Bakura's skills. But ever since they met me, they stopped doing that kind of stuff so I wouldn't get in trouble by association :3 Hey, he's got nothing better to do. Why not go bother Bakura? XD He was hurt, so I can understand him lashing out. Not like this though. :/

AnonymousGuest: He should also teach Marik how to not look suspicious during a shoplifting excursion XD In his still not entirely sober mind, it seemed like a good idea. The guy's just a psycho bastard. You'll find out eventually ;) Even Bakura's friends have good sides to them ;)

Pharaoh Silver: He'll be happy about that, that's for sure :D Hehe Fluffy :3

NightWitch1312: Hehe you'll find out which one it is soon ;)

RandomSpazz-chan: Glad you liked! Mr. Ishtar needs a big, fat, kick in the ass for what he did And yes you should OwO

xXAnachronIsmEpsIceXx: Yeah, he's Marik's best friend. Aww -hugs- He really should have been there for Marik, no matter how mad he was at him He probably does think he's Marik's keeper XD Considering only he and Bakura know about Marik's father outside of the family. Haha midget Yugi XD they don't sound like complaints to me. More like thinking aloud ^^ I like stories like that too. They always keep me wanting more. I'm glad you're enjoying :D

Impurepet: Is that a good jaw drop? :D He's smarter then he acts. He just acts like a dumb criminal, but he really has a brain hidden under there. Ryou's a bit of an enigma at the moment, but he'll get over it ;) Glad you like! :D Aw thanks. Love you too!

OtEpShAmAyA: His dad's a psycho Hehe it is probably the way it sounds ;)

RandomLizzie: Aw I'm glad to hear it :3 There's actually only one of me, but Nbld is just there to break up the beginning rants XD They do have good sides hidden somewhere. They just act like they don't ^^ Halloween was great thanks! Hope you had a good one too!

September Bloom: Anonymous reviews are always welcome :D Nine hours? O.o How are you not sick of us? XD Just kidding. Haha yay for squealing :D I'm glad you enjoy! Hehe it's just one of the few curveballs that will appear throughout the fic ;)

MiyuMiya: Aw sorry -hugs- Bakura's reaction will be interesting, I guarantee that ^^ Well, he kind of _is_ Bakura's friend… ;) Glad you like! :D

Animelvr16: Glad you're enjoying!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bakura, Marik, Thief, or anyone else from the YuGiOh franchise. They all belong to Kazuki Takahashi.

Dedication: This is dedicated to all of the Veterans and current soldiers that are fighting for our country (included five of my school friends). Stay safe.

000

Bakura paced in front of his bed as I cleaned up a wound on my cheek with peroxide. Thief was sitting in the bay window of Bakura's bedroom, watching his friend pace like a man waiting for his baby to be born. I sighed and put the peroxide down, before using a mirror to look over my face for any more injuries, courtesy of my father. Bakura was barefoot and bare-chested, wearing only soft-looking black pajama bottoms. With his hair unkempt and falling to his shoulders, I felt like my heart would skip a beat every time I looked at him. He was good looking when I saw him every day, but at home? I felt like a schoolgirl with a schoolyard crush. After discovering how injured I was, he hadn't really said much. I knew that he knew who did it right away, but he didn't say anything with Thief sitting there, watching us both like a hawk.

"So…um…I'm done…thanks…" I told him, putting the peroxide back into the first aid kit he'd brought out from his adjoining bathroom.

Bakura only nodded. Thief opened his mouth to say something, but then seemed to think better of it and shut his mouth without saying anything. I began playing with a couple long strands of my hair, twisting them around my fingers like I tended to do when I felt nervous or awkward.

"Your shirt." Bakura said.

"Yeah? What about it?" I looked down. There were a couple splotches of blood on it, but that was all.

"Take it off."

I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. "What?"

"Damn, Bakura." Thief laughed. "If you want to see him naked that badly, at least wait until I'm not here."

Bakura glared at him as I flushed. He looked back to me and rolled his eyes. "The blood there isn't just from your cheek." He said. "I want to see if you have any wounds we don't know about."

"Probably just some bruising." I said. I grabbed the bottom hem of my shirt and pulled it up over my head.

I heard Bakura's sharp intake of breath.

"Did you get hit with a pipe or something?" Thief asked, eyes widening.

I looked down at myself. A large blue-black bruise that was turning purple in the middle had formed on my side. It was in the perfect shape of a foot. I sighed.

"I…er…got kicked…a few times…" I muttered.

Bakura pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers. "And you neglected to tell us this because…?"

I shrugged. "I didn't think I had a bruise or anything…"

Thief cocked his head to the side. "Why didn't you go to Ryou's house?" He wondered. "Instead of walking down the street?"

"Er…I did…"

"And?" Bakura said.

"In no uncertain terms, he told me to get lost…" I sighed. "Said he had company."

Thief and Bakura shared a look.

"What?" I wondered. Did they know who Ryou's late night visitor was?

"I can't believe he actually went over there." Thief shook his head.

"I can." Bakura argued. "You know why he went over."

"Yeah, but still…"

"Thief, you know he's been planning this for a while."

I blushed. "What are you two talking about?"

"Yami." Thief said. "He was talking earlier about going over to Ryou's."

"So…Ryou told me to get lost because Yami was there?"

Bakura and Thief shared a look.

"Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Between us only, alright?" Bakura asked me.

"Of course."

"Yami's got the hots for Ryou, so he was talking about going over to confess tonight." Thief explained. "If he _was _the one over there, and Ryou told you to go away because of it, I can only surmise that it went well."

"O-Oh…" I muttered.

That explained how I caught Yami checking Ryou out a few times. But if Ryou had a guy over, why didn't he just _say_ that to me?

"So you think they were…?"

"Doing it?" Bakura wondered. "Could be." He shrugged. "Yami moves fast."

"I don't want to know that…"

Thief chuckled. "No, you really don't want to know how Bakura here knows that."

"Shut up!" Bakura yelled, glaring at him.

A knock on the door startled the three of us, making each of us jump. Thankfully, Bakura had locked the door to his room when he saw that we were there.

"Bakura?" A woman's voice wondered. "Are you alright? I heard shouting."

"Just a dream." Bakura replied. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" She jiggled the handle. "Why is your door locked then?"

"I was sleepwalking the other night and didn't want to repeat it, so I locked the door."

"Oh, alright." She said. "If you want to talk, sweetie, remember we're right down the hall!"

"Yeah, yeah." Bakura waved her off.

I listened to her leave before looking to Bakura. "She seems nice."

"Whatever." He sat on the bed next to me. "I still can't believe Ryou would tell you to leave just because he had a guy over."

I shrugged. I knew Ryou was gay, hell, everyone did. But I didn't ever think he'd choose a guy over me when I was clearly injured.

"I can't wrap my mind around it either." I sighed.

Thief smiled softly at me. "You should get some rest, Marik." He said. "I'll get going. My parents will notice I'm gone if I stay out any longer."

"Alright." Bakura shrugged. "Use the window."

There was a ladder leaning against the wall outside to easily get in and out of Bakura's house. With a little bit of difficulty, and some help from Thief, the two of us had gotten into the house through the window. Bakura had been surprised to see me, since Thief had gone behind me to make sure I didn't lose my grip and fall off.

"_Marik?" Bakura had wondered. "What are you doing at my house? How did you even know where I live?"_

"_Thief…" I had replied. "Um…he's behind me…"_

"_Dude, let us in." Thief had ordered. "Marik's hurt, dude."_

_Bakura had leaned closer to me and finally saw the injuries. "What happened to…?" He had started to wonder. "Never mind, just come in."_

"Yeah, I know." Thief told Bakura. "See you guys at school, then."

Bakura waved him off.

"Thank you…" I told him.

Thief smiled a little. "Any friend of Bakura's is a friend of mine and Yami's." He walked to the window. "Good night." He climbed out.

Neither Bakura nor I spoke until we heard Thief's car pull away and drive off.

"You should probably bandage yourself up to protect the bruise from damage."

"I should be okay…"

He shook his head. "Trust me. Bandages help."

"Okay…"

He grabbed a thick roll of gauze from the first aid kit. "I'll need your help here, alright?"

"I can do it myself."

"No can do." He shook his head and smirked at me. "I'm not letting you get away that easily, Malik." He winked.

I flushed. "Jerk."

He chuckled. "Jerk I may be, but I _am_ helping you here." He pulled the end of the gauze off of the rest of it and pressed it against my side, next to the bruise.

I winced a little.

"Don't be such a baby." He said. "And hold this here for me."

"Okay." I pressed my fingers onto the gauze.

"Now hold tight." He ordered. He pulled the gauze to stretch it and began wrapping it around me.

I felt my breath hitch every time our chests touched from him leaning so close, and hoped that he didn't notice it. My hopes were dashed when I heard him chuckle.

"Are you uncomfortable, Malik?" He whispered. "Your breath keeps catching."

"Just not used to human contact outside of being beat."

He pulled back and frowned. "Your dad did this, didn't he." It was more of a statement then a question.

"Yeah…"

"Because…?"

"I came home so late."

Bakura's frown deepened. "Sorry…"

"I should've been more mindful of the time." I replied. "Don't apologize."

He nodded. I watched him grab adhesive medical tape from the kit. "Well, I've already done it, so a little late for you to tell me that."

"Touché." I replied.

He chuckled. "I suppose you'll be sleeping in here for the night."

"A-Are you sure? You only have one bed…"

"I'm aware." He taped down the end of the gauze against the part that was wrapped around me. Once finished, he put everything away in the kit. "There's a simple solution for that issue."

"Which is…?"

"Share."

I flushed. "I really don't think…I mean, thank you, but I shouldn't… mean…you and me…bed…I don't…"

He put a finger on my lips to shush me. "I don't mind." He said. "We're…_friends_…after all, right?"

"Yeah…right."

He smirked and grabbed the first aid kit. He kissed the top of my head before taking the kit into his bathroom. "Stop being so nervous, Malik." He ordered me from the bathroom.

"I just…I've never…"

"Not even when staying at Ryou's?"

"I don't do sleepovers." I responded. "Not with how my father is. He'd freak if I even asked."

"True." Bakura yawned and stretched as he walked out of the bathroom, making his bottoms slide a little lower.

I flushed but didn't look away. The pants were down just far enough to see the muscles that probably went further down to define his groin. A little bit of hair peeked over the top of his pants.

"Um…Bakura…"

"What?"

He looked down and pulled his pants up, flushing a little. "It's late." He informed. "Let's figure out what to do in the morning."

"It's already morning." I pointed to his clock.

It was almost 7 in the morning now. No wonder his mother had been awake to come see what was going on. But it was a Sunday…wouldn't she be sleeping? The phone began ringing. Bakura groaned and picked up the receiver.

"Whoever this is and whatever you want, you better have a _damn_ good reason for calling at 7 am on a Sunday morning." He answered the phone.

I rolled my eyes. He didn't even know who it was.

"Yeah, Marik's here." Bakura's eyes had narrowed. "No, you can't talk to him. He's asleep now. I gave him some dope to put him to sleep."

I heard shouting on the other end of the phone and recognized Ryou's voice. I stood and took the phone from Bakura.

"_Why the hell would you give him drugs?" _Ryou shouted. _"Just what the hell is wrong with you, Bakura? Are you trying to get him high or something?"_

"At least he's trying to help me, and not telling me to get lost because he has company." I replied.

"_Oh…Marik…"_ Ryou paused. _"Are you okay?"_

"I've seen better days, Ryou." I replied. "Why the hell did you do that to me last night? My father beat the shit out of me. I went to you for help!"

"_I was upset, alright? And I did have company."_

"Yami?"

He didn't answer for a minute or two. _"Bakura told you?"_

"Guessed."

Silence.

"Look, Ryou, I don't care who was there or why you wouldn't believe me, but I haven't had any sleep since 7 am Saturday morning. I've been up a full 24 hours, and I want to sleep. I'll see you in school. Goodbye." I hung up, tears stinging my eyes, and handed Bakura the phone.

He put it back on the receiver before sitting down next to me.

"You alright?" He wondered.

I shrugged and wiped at my eyes with my shirt, picking it up off the bed. "I'll be okay, I guess…"

He sighed and put a hand on my shoulder. A moment passed before his arm snaked around behind my neck to rest on both of my shoulders. I didn't move, not knowing what to do in this situation. The only person who ever comforted me was Ryou, but now…I wasn't sure what was going on with us. But whatever it was, I hoped that we got it all figured out soon.

000

I woke up later that day to find the clock reading '2 PM' in bright red letters.

I groaned and rolled over to see Bakura, who had fallen asleep next to me. He lay on his back, one arm sprawled over his head. His legs were bent as if he was in a fetal position. He looked peaceful sleeping there, his chest slowly rising and falling. I sighed softly and lay on my side so I could watch him sleep. Last night had certainly been one of the worst of my life. I got the shit beat out of me by my own drunk father, my best friend ditched me for a guy when I needed him the most, and I had even let Thief see me in such a weakened state. His last words to me rang out in my head.

_Any friend of Bakura's is a friend of ours._

Friend. Of Bakura's. Did Bakura really consider me a friend? If he did? Good, because I considered him a friend as well. A friend I wanted to sleep with, but a friend nonetheless. He had kissed the top of my head the night before, and that hadn't been an illusion that my mind made up; like the one about is kissing at my place was. As I watched Bakura sleep, I couldn't help but let my mind wander over our relationship. Just what were we, exactly? He acted like an ass in school, but at home, he was really sweet and caring. I wondered…if I were to confess to him what I felt, what would his response be? Would he not care and just let me down gently and shrug it off? Would he freak out on me and never want to talk to me again? Would he return my feelings? I mean, he _had_ said that he didn't care if someone was gay or not. But would he still feel that way if someone who was gay happened to like _him_? I saw Bakura begin to stir and pretended to be asleep. I closed my eyes and let my breathing fade into the gentle in, out of sleeping.

"You awake?" He shoved me lightly. "What time is it?"

I groaned. "Two in the afternoon."

He chuckled and pulled me closer to him. "You might want to continue faking your sleep even when people ask questions, Marik. Nice to know you like watching me sleep."

I pulled away from him slightly, though I really didn't want to. "I wasn't watching you."

"You're not the only faker in this room."

I flushed. "S-Shut up, Bakura…"

He chuckled. "So what are you going to do? Just go home?"

"I don't have any other options." I shook my head.

He sighed and pressed his palms into his eyes. "There has to be another way."

"Well Ryou won't talk to me, and I can't stay here. So there's really nowhere else I can go."

"Just…be careful…"

"I will. Don't worry. He's probably out drinking anyway."

Or looking for Bakura to kill. But the more oblivious Bakura was to the reason for my father's beating, the better.


	17. Sweet Dreams

Dlbn: Hey there, everyone, I'm back! I know Is aid I'd post on Monday, but a huge spurt of inspiration hit me and I started writing like a mad woman.

Nbld: With the writer's block finally gone, we were able to finish early, so we wanted to post now!

Dlbn: Thank god. I was sad that I had writer's block, but it just went away today. Almost as if a huge weight had been lifted off of me and allowed me to write again.

Nbld: Now, before we start to ramble, let's get onto the Review Corner! Thank you to Dynamite and Soup, Pharaoh Silver, NightWitch1312, VampirePrinssess, AnonymousGuest, impurepet, animelvr16, OtEpShAmAyA, SeptemberBloom, Guest, diamondust, Annzy Bananzy for reviewing chapter 16! Cookies for you all!

And thank you to SeptemberBloom, and VampirePrinssess for reviewing the note in chapter 17!

Dynamite and Soup: Deathshipping has made an official appearance! Ryou really needs to get his priorities straight, doesn't he? Well, Marik did get his wish…just not the exact way he wanted ;) He needs hugs -hugs Marik-

Pharaoh Silver: Haha poor Kitty feels neglected XD Yup, Ryou and Yami had some fun together ;) Glad you enjoyed!

NightWitch1312: Haha that it is XD Aw thank you, that means a lot! :D Bakura's got a good side to him, doesn't he? ^^ P.S. I agree :D

VampirePrinssess: Oh, Bakura and his mind games :) Marik and Ryou will definitely need to have a talk after all of this. After all, who else will Marik tell about his advances with Bakura but his best friend? Yami's a very happy little spiky-haired version of Marik. Glad you liked!

AnonymousGuest: XD That he was ^^ I'm sure Marik was happy to be able to spend more time with the silver haired object of his desires ;)

Impurepet: Hehe that it was! It's felt like ages since I've written anything other then an essay. Aw I'm glad you enjoyed! :D

Animelvr16: Glad you enjoyed! Next chapter, coming up!

OtEpShAmAyA: Yup, Ryou and Yami it is ^^ Just another surprise around another turn ;) Glad you liked that one ^^ Bakura's learning to open up to him, that's for sure. Lucky Marik ;) Marik and Ryou need to talk everything over if they want to move on.

SeptemberBloom: Aw, thank you! You're awesome too! Glad you enjoyed the chapter. Yup, it was Yami who was keeping Ryou oh-so-busy. Bakura's becoming a totally different person around Marik, isn't he? Maybe this 'punishment' was a blessing in disguise for them, hm? ;) Haha did they give you weird looks? My family would XD

Guest: Glad you liked! Next chapter coming up!

Diamondust: I love it, personally :3 Glad you loved it! Next chapter, coming up!

Annzy Bananzy: It's okay, no worries ^^ Even Bakura's friends know something's going on. hopefully Bakura realizes it as well XD Those lines are some of my favorites, actually :D Psychoshipping is one of my favorite pairings in the YuGiOh fandom. Most of my favorite pairings involve one form of Marik and Bakura. Maybe he does ;) 'Bros-Before-Man-Hoes' indeed. Ryou needs to learn that, apparently. All those questions shall be answered! They're like this fic's version of "The Outsiders" XD Bakura basically lets his friends come over whenever they want/need, helps them out whenever they want/need, and stuff like that.

That he did ;) Bakura is the King of mixed signals…no, wait, that was my boyfriend before we got together. Oops XD

Glad you liked XD They have a good little banter going on between the two of them sometimes, hm?

Yeah, writer's block sucks. But it's gone, so yay. I did have a great holiday. You? Thank you! :D

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN NOTE

SeptemberBloom: Thank you! Hope you had a good Thanksgiving!

VampirePrinssess: Thanks. I'm so glad the block is gone :D Hope you had a good holiday! And thanks a lot :)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own YuGiOh or any character in this fanfic. They belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of writing this fanfic in this category. I just enjoy doing it.

000

I spent Sunday in a combination if hanging out at Bakura's house-unbeknownst to his parents-and walking around town with him and Thief. It was odd, spending a weekend without seeing Ryou even once. Thief and Bakura had felt the same way about Yami. Things just weren't the same in our own little groups with one piece missing. But putting the three of us together? That was something odd entirely. I never thought I could get along with two of the school's shadiest people. And according to Bakura, he never thought he'd be hanging with a kid who never caused problems or got in trouble. Thief had agreed and said that Bakura had refrained from doing anything too bold since we started hanging out. I didn't have the heart to tell him about the jewelry.

000

By the time Monday rolled around, I was past my anger and feelings of betrayal enough to actually talk to Ryou. However, he would have to wait until later. Instead of going to homeroom Monday morning, I met Bakura outside of Mr. Kaiba's office. He smiled softly at me and knocked on the door.

"Come on in, boys." Mr. Kaiba answered.

Bakura opened the door. "After you." He told me.

"Thanks." I replied, slipping into the office.

"Well, nice to hear you two getting along this time." Mr. Kaiba said, looking up from his paperwork at us. "Marik, what happened to you?"

I sighed and sat in the chair in front of his desk. "One of my dad's drunken buddies caused some problems is all." I replied. "Don't worry about it."

"He beat you up?" Mr. Kaiba wondered.

"No, but I'm not saying who did."

Mr. Kaiba looked directly at Bakura, who had sat back and put his feet up on the desk while I had explained.

"It wasn't Bakura." I quickly defended him.

"I'm offended." Bakura cocked his head at Mr. Kaiba. "Why would you just _assume_ it was me?"

"Last time you were here, I believe you told me you 'hated the sight' of Marik, here."

Bakura snorted. "Well, perhaps my feelings have changed since I was here last."

I smiled softly at that. How much had those feelings changed? If Thief's backhand comments from Saturday night were anything to go by, Bakura had feelings for me beyond that of a mere friendship.

"They have?" Mr. Kaiba looked surprised as he pushed Bakura's feet off of his desk and wiped away invisible dirt from the desk. "To what, if I may ask."

"You may not ask." Bakura scowled. "But since you already have, I guess I can tell you. The best way to put it would be that I no longer hate the sight of him…" He flushed. "I hate the sight of him walking away more…"

What…? Mr. Kaiba looked as surprised as I felt.

"Um…excuse me, Bakura?" Mr. Kaiba wondered. "Are you feeling alright, or did I hear your words incorrectly?"

"I'm not repeating myself." Bakura informed, irritated. "I…actually enjoy spending time with him. Gives me something to do."

I rolled my eyes. So much for Bakura being _nice_ about it. But still…that was a nice thing for him to say. He hated seeing me walk away? Odd, considering that him leaving my house most of the time meant that _he_ was the one walking away.

"Marik?" Mr. Kaiba wondered, eyes shifting to me. "How do you feel about Bakura now as opposed to before?"

"I never had a problem with Bakura before." I admitted. "I was just annoyed by his pranks on me all the time." I looked at Bakura, who didn't seem too surprised by that. "My feelings haven't changed…I just know him better now." I looked back to Mr. Kaiba. "You seem surprised that your plan worked."

"I was actually concerned you'd just blow it off and bullshit me when you came in here today." Was he allowed to swear in the presence of students? "But you two seem to have made quite a bit of progress." He looked to Bakura. "Do you feel like you know Marik better now?"

"Very well." Bakura nodded.

"Well, then I would have to say that part one here is a success." Mr. Kaiba leaned back in his hair and tented his fingers. "So, this week, we'll switch things up. The same concept of five hours, but at Bakura's house. Next Monday morning, you'll report here again for a final discussion, understood?"

"Can we get lost now?" Bakura wondered.

Mr. Kaiba sighed. "Yes, you may get lost, Bakura. You too, Marik. I'll see you both Monday. Hopefully not before then."

We both stood.

"I doubt it." I said, winking at Bakura.

Bakura chuckled. "You might see me." He warned, before leaving the room.

I chuckled nervously before following him into the hallway. He was leaning on his locker; arms folded over his chest and legs crossed out in front of him.

"Did you really mean that?" I wondered.

"Mean what?" Bakura wondered.

"That you hate seeing me walk away…?"

He didn't answer me for a moment. "I don't enjoy those moments, no." He said. "I guess you could say I've grown rather…_fond_ of you…Marik."

I smiled softly. "I'm quite fond of you, too, Bakura."

He pushed himself off of the locker with one foot. "Quite fond of me, you say? Why use the word 'quite' in there as well?" He took a few steps closer to me.

I instinctively stepped backwards until my back hit the bank of lockers behind me. Bakura loomed over me; pressing one hand to the wall on either side of my head to trap me in place. I swallowed harshly.

"W-What are you doing, Bakura?" I wondered softly.

"I just want to try something, if you don't mind." He smirked. "Even if you do mind, that's not my problem." The hand on the wall on the left side of my head lifted my chin up to him.

"Depends on what you want to try…" I muttered softly.

"Close your eyes, Marik." My name slid off his tongue like melting ice cream.

"O-Okay…" I closed my eyes. Whatever he was planning, it had better be good.

My curiosity was squished when I felt his lips press softly to mine. I moaned in reply without realizing it, and wrapped my arms around his neck. His hand that wasn't holding my chin went to my waist and pulled me close to him. My fingers threaded through his hair as the bell rang. Neither of us seemed to care as students and teachers began exiting the classrooms and noticing our display. A few kids made rude comments, but I could hardly hear them over the pounding of my own heart in my ears.

The sound of the school bell ringing jolted me awake. Bakura was still leaning on his locker, watching me, and I still stood in front of him. Ugh, damn my mind for playing tricks on me again! Ra, I really needed to learn to control those fantasies before they got me in trouble.

Teens started exiting the classrooms and filling the halls.

"You zoned out. You okay?" Bakura wondered.

"I'm fine." I managed to squeak out. I cleared my throat. "Just thinking about later…"

He nodded, arching off of his locker. "Good luck with Ryou." He pat me on the shoulder before leaving into the crowds.

Damn, Ryou! I had almost forgot about him. We needed to clear the air. There was no way I could enjoy being at Bakura's house for five hours more without confronting Ryou over what had happened.

000

After not seeing Ryou for the majority of the day, I figured he wasn't in school for whatever reason. I was relieved to find him during lunch; sitting alone at our usual table. Without a word, I walked over and took a seat across from him like any other day; setting my tray on the table in the process. Ryou looked up from his food, seemingly startled. He flushed when he saw me sitting there as if nothing had happened, before looking back to his food.

"I'm surprised you sat here." He whispered to me.

"So am I." I replied. "But we can't let this go on forever. We need to talk some time."

Ryou nodded, not looking up. "Can we eat first and talk later? I don't want to discuss this here. We're on the down low for now…"

"Fine, fine. I would be too." He shrugged and began eating.

He smiled softly underneath the mass of white-blonde hair that had fallen to hide his face from my view. "How was your weekend?"

"It was okay, overall." I replied. "Saturday night could have been much better."

Ryou nodded. "I'm sorry…"

I shrugged. "Under the rug, Ryou."

He finally looked back up at me; smiling softly. His green eyes sparkled in a way I'd never seen them do before. "I really am sorry, though." He said. "I never should've sent you away…" He looked me over. "You look like hell…"

"Gee, thanks, I appreciate it." I replied, taking a sip of milk from the carton on my tray.

"Sorry, but it's true." He shrugged. "But it looks like someone patched you up. Did you go to the ER?"

"No way." I shook my head vigorously a couple times. "If I did that, my dad would…"

"Enough said." He put up a hand. "So who helped you then?"

"Bakura."

His smile fell. "Oh."

"Thief found me walking down the road and said he was going to Bakura's. He offered for me to come along so I could get some medical attention and somewhere safe to stay."

"So Bakura knows everything, then…?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Even things I didn't know, myself."

"Things you didn't know?"

"Like the reason you sent me away."

Ryou flushed. "We'll discuss that after you finish eating." He said. "I'm already done."

My teacher had let us out late, and the lines had been long by the time I got to the cafeteria; it was no surprise he'd gotten his food _and_ finished already.

I nodded. "Sounds fair to me."

000

Ryou and I roamed the deserted school hallways to find a quiet place to talk. Neither of us said a word to the other as we walked. We found a staircase in the science wing of the school; a wing that was abandoned until sixth period due to the lack of science classes this period. We sat down together underneath the staircase; hiding in the small alcove that the layered staircase created with the ground floor. Ryou sat, Indian style, with his back to one wall. I sat next to him in the corner of the alcove, leaning on the other wall that formed the corner. It took a few minutes for either of us to speak, but it was me who spoke first.

"So do you care to explain why you told me to get lost?" I wondered.

"Look, I really want to apologize for it." Ryou said. "I was mad that you ditched me for Bakura and…well…"

"I didn't mean to, you know, but I really am sorry."

"I know…I wasn't thinking. It wasn't right of me to tell you to go away when you said it was your dad who…" He didn't say anything more on the subject.

"So…Yami was the one at your house Saturday night, right?"

"Y-Yeah…" Ryou nodded. "It was the weirdest thing, to be honest."

"How so?"

It couldn't be any weirder then my fantasies of Bakura.

"Well, he showed up at my house in the middle of the night and knew which window was mine, for one."

I stifled my laughter. "That's pretty creepy, I admit."

"Apparently he'd passed by my house before and saw the light on in my room, then saw me pass by the window." He shrugged.

"Okay, so what else happened?"

"Well, I let him into my room and he just paced around for a bit…"

000

"_So…er…Yami…why are you here again?" Ryou had wondered._

"_I wanted to talk to you about something before I lose my daring to tell you." Yami had replied, finally stopping his pacing to sit on the edge of the bed._

"_Talk to me or tell me?" Ryou sat next to the spiky-haired version of myself._

"_Kind of both." Yami had sighed. "I wanted to tell you something and then get your opinion on it."_

"_Okay. What is it?"_

"_Well…er…I kind of…"_

"_Yeah?"_

_Yami didn't say anything more as he put a hand to the back of Ryou's neck and pulled him close. Their lips pressed together for a brief moment before Ryou let out a gasp and his lips opened slightly. Yami took that opportunity to slip his tongue into Ryou's mouth as their teeth clacked together slightly. Ryou's hands went up to grab the lapels of Yami's jacket and pull him closer. Yami's free hand moved to Ryou's side and massaged the flesh as Ryou's tongue began to fight back. Yami's nails dug lightly into Ryou's neck before he let go and threaded his fingers through Ryou's white-blonde hair. Yami began to nibble on his lower lip as Ryou felt his eyes roll back. Yami tugged Ryou's lip away from his mouth a little before letting it slip back into place. Ryou's hands went slack on Yami's jacket slightly, but he still held on; panting._

"_You got what I'm trying to say?" Yami wondered._

_Ryou nodded._

"_And?"_

"_I think my reaction is enough of an answer." Ryou looked up and pulled Yami back in for another kiss._

_Yami's hand slid under Ryou's shirt and began to lift it up. Once it was up enough, they broke for air so Yami could remove it. As soon as the garment was over his head, Ryou went in to continue the kiss. Yami's lips met his quickly as they moved together. Ryou pulled Yami's jacket off his shoulders and Yami shrugged out of it; not breaking the kiss once. Ryou pushed up the bottom hem of Yami's shirt to remove it. They separated to allow it to be removed, but this time it was Yami who went back in. He tilted Ryou's chin up to the side and pressed his lips where Ryou's neck met his collarbone. He kissed around the area, making Ryou shudder and tangle his fingers in Yami's spiky hair._

"_Y-Yami…" He panted._

_Yami pulled back his lips to bite down on the area he had previously been kissing; sucking harshly on the pale flesh. Ryou moaned, then closed his mouth to prevent his parents from hearing and coming to investigate. Yami smirked against the flesh between his teeth and let go; nuzzling his nose into the crevice. Ryou pulled him back for another kiss. The two of them moved together so that their backs were to the pillows. Ryou slowly inched backwards to his pillows. Yami followed; crawling over him and not breaking their kiss once. Ryou wrapped his arms around Yami's neck, as the spiky haired male danced his fingers delicately up and down Ryou's sides. Ryou quivered from the touch and arched up; rubbing against Yami slightly down below. Yami groaned at the contact and pressed his hips into Ryou's; crushing them to the bed underneath him. Ryou tried to arch against him again, but Yami's hips prevented that. Before either could make another move, a rock pinged against Ryou's window._

000

Ryou sighed, flushing darkly.

"So that's where you come in…" He informed me.

I blinked. "So…after I left…did you two…?"

"Oh, god, no, I'm a virgin." Ryou answered. "But…well…I can't deny that I wanted to. I just didn't want to rush things, or wake my parents. He agreed."

"So you two…?"

"Making out, a little light touching…" Ryou cleared his throat. "What were you doing with Bakura the whole time?"

"Before the beating or after?"

Ryou flushed. "Er…both…?"

"We just hung out around the mall, then went and played cards with his friends." I sighed, debating whether or not to tell him about the necklace. "He…um…bought me chocolate."

"Chocolate?" Ryou wondered.

"Don't ask."

"Um…okay…what about after you left my place?"

"Thief gave me a ride over, I told him what my dad did, and he patched me up."

"Was your nose broken?"

"Thankfully, no." I said. "And thankfully, Bakura keeps his door locked at night. I don't know what his parents would do if they found me there. But he has a ladder leading to his room, so I guess his friends stay over all the time. Maybe me being there wouldn't have been a surprise…"

"You slept there?"

"My dad kicked me out after he beat me. I couldn't exactly go home."

"So…did you two…?"

"No." I replied. "He doesn't know yet."

"_Still_?" Ryuo sighed. "Marik, you've been spending all this time with him, and he still doesn't know that you have feelings for him?"

"More then feelings." I muttered. "Ryou…"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm in love…"

Neither of us spoke for a minute or two.

"How are you so sure…?"

"I've…twice…I've had fantasies…the second was worse then the last. Damn, Ryou, I fantasized him kissing me against the school lockers and neither of us caring when the bell rang." I laughed, realizing how stupid I sounded. "And I just feel like I _am_ in love with him. I mean, we get along so well and…today…"

"Yeah?"

"He told Mr. Kaiba that he hates seeing me leave…"

Moment of unbearable silence passed before either of us spoke.

"Really?" Ryou asked at last. "Wow…"

"I was surprised too…" I paused. "Do you think he could….? I mean, is there a chance that…?"

"You won't know until you tell him, Marik." Ryou said. "Yami went on his gut and told me. Maybe you should go on your gut and tell Bakura."

"But it's different. Yami knows you're gay. Bakura has no idea about me. I haven't even told him that."

"You can't hope to start a relationship on lies."

"I'm not really lying. It's to like he's asked about my sexuality. And unless he does, I don't know if I'll have the courage to tell him."

"You better figure it out."

"I will." I nodded. "Can I ask you something?"

"Y-Yes?"

"How do you feel about Yami?"

"I like him…" Ryou said. "And he's one hell of a kisser…"

"I didn't need to know that." I laughed, shaking my head. "So…are you two going to be a couple now, then?"

"On the down low. Need to know basis." Ryou said. "I'm telling you, and he's going to tell Thief and Bakura. But that's it. No one else will know until we're ready."

"Okay." I nodded in agreement.

"Besides, I can't be with him publically until I sort some things out for myself."

"What things?"

"You're not with Bakura, right?"

"No." I shook my head. "But why do you want to know…?"

Before I could say anything more, I felt a pair of lips pressed to mine. I froze in place as I realized what was going on. Ryou was…kissing me? His fingers wove into my hair and pulled me a little closer. No way was this happening. This had to be just another twisted fantasy my mind made up because of Ryou's story. That's all it was. I let my eyes slide closed to wait for my mind to snap from the fantasy. I felt a hand on my waist, a tongue in my mouth, a hand tugging my hair…it was all too real. I pulled away from Ryou quickly and shook my head to get rid of the stupid fantasy. When I opened my eyes, Ryou was chewing nervously on his bottom lip.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?" He wondered softly.

"Wait a minute here. You actually did…kiss…?"

"Did you think you were just dreaming?" Ryou laughed. "It wasn't a fantasy your sick little, horny mind came up with. That was real…Marik I…I like you…a lot…" He flushed. "That's why I was so annoyed when you skipped out on me. I was…planning on telling you, since I knew you weren't with him yet…but then Yami came and it didn't matter anyway…" He paused. "I hope you don't mind the kiss…I know it was your first…I shouldn't have done it, but I really wanted to sort my feelings out…"

I touched my fingers to my lips gingerly. "Do you have the answer to what you wanted to know?"

"Yes, I do." Ryou nodded.

"Then I guess it's okay…I really wish Bakura was my first, but if not him…then I'm glad it's you…"

Ryou smiled softly and pressed his forehead to mine. "I've always loved you, Marik. But I knew you only had eyes for Bakura, so I gave up on thinking I would ever have a chance."

"Ryou…you should've still told me…"

"I know." He kissed my nose. "I realize that…so…are we okay?" He sounded worried. "This doesn't change anything? My being with Yami doesn't change anything…?"  
"Of course not." I shook my head. "I'm still a little annoyed at you telling me to get lost so you could make out with your new boy toy, but it's alright. Swept under the rug for now. Do you forgive me for Saturday night?"

"Yeah." Ryou nodded. "I should've realized you wanted to spend more time with _your_ boy toy and you probably were so happy, you lost track of time."

"I did lose track of time. But it won't happen ever again. Promise."

"And I'll never turn you away in your hour of need again."

"Deal."

Ryou pulled back and smiled at me. "I'm glad, Marik. I didn't want to lose you."

"I don't want to lose you either."

Ryou giggled. "Then it's agreed. A guy will never come between us." He offered me his pinky.

"We will never end our friendship over a guy." I agreed, taking his pinky in mine. "You're stuck with me."

"You're stuck with me too, then."

"I don't mind that notion."

"Neither do I."

We shook our pinkies on it and I smiled. I had my best friend back, he was happy, I was happy, and Bakura hated seeing me walk away. The only way things could get any better was if Bakura knew how I truly felt about him.


	18. Misery

Dlbn: Hey everyone, and welcome to a semi-late update! Last night was the Carrie Underwood concert, so we couldn't update, and Monday was just hectic.

Nbld: So before writer's block hits again (what with my boyfriend being out of town in NYC for two weeks), let's get this chapter started, shall we? Let's start with the Review Corner! Thank you to VampirePrinssess, xXAnachronIsmEpsIceXx, Dynamite and Soup, Pharaoh Silver, Dreamnorn, Begecko-chan, impurepet/Guest, animelvr16, NightWitch1312, OtEpShAmAyA, AnonymousGuest, Annzy Bananzy, and yugiohfan9 for reviewing! Cookies for you all!

VampirePrinssess: Doing a review as a Guest is always welcome, as well, if you'd like :D But thank you for the PM review! Marik's just horny, that's all XD He wants it to happen, but knows it never will, so his mind is compensating. Bakura means 'I hate seeing him walk away' in an 'I want to spend more time with you' kind of way. At least they made up. My best friend and I were fighting for a day or so and I absolutely hated it, so I'm glad we made up like they did. I wouldn't take Marik's best and only friend away from him. That would be cruel D: Now he won't be so lonely when Marik goes and hangs out with Bakura, hm? ;) Yes, Yami is one hell of a kisser. Thank you for the details, Ryou -pets him on the head-

xXAnachronIsmEpsIceXx: Yup, Ryou has it all out of his system now, and can focus his affections on Yami :D He's not trying to interfere with the plot. He was more of a side story that got resolved quickly, is all ^^ I had that last chapter worked out in my head for a while, so I was ready to get to it and felt like the writer's block vanishing gave me the opportunity to write it. I'm glad you enjoyed. ^^

Dynamite and Soup: Ryou's just upfront about his feelings. Unlike Marik, who hides them from the person they're for. XD Ryou _was_ innocent. Then he fell hard for Yami ;) Bakura's starting to warm up to little Marik now, isn't he? ^^

Pharaoh Silver: That stuff is legit XD Never break a pinky promise! D: No, Marik, you have cravings for Bakura's cute little butt XD just kidding. He just craves everything about Bakura ;) Poor Fluffy is getting the heck glomped out of him. Hehe, he needs more glomping! XD

Dreamnorn: I'm glad you're enjoying :D I've seen things written where the 'who's speaking' question pops up, and things where it hasn't. I'm glad it hasn't in here, because this is always Marik's POV; even in someone else's flashbacks XD Everything's going good for Marik. If only he could get Bakura to that love stage as well ;) 'Fondness' was a fun word to use for it, I admit XD I'd be mad at him, too, if I were in Marik's place. Yes, he does have a reason, but his friend was injured, and he knows how Marik's father is. Don't worry. It won't ruin the plot at all to say it, but Bakura and his friends were off being delinquents and didn't see it at all. No worries there. Here's to happy endings indeed. I'm still hoping and holding onto mine :3 And if single for 21 years me can hold onto the thought of a happy ending in the relationship department, then Marik should be able to as well :D Thank you! Sometimes I don't catch the mistakes, even when I read it over a few times. I've found mistakes in older stuff that I wrote and read and reread many times over the years, and I still find errors XD Thank you, though. I'll get to work on finding any to change!

Begecko-chan: Haha is it for school? Because those videos are always boring; whether in French, English, Spanish, or any other language XD Glad you're liking it so far!

Impurepet/Guest: Ryou's got a little trick and secret or two up his sleeve, that's for sure ;) Maybe he should let Marik in on the secret XD Bakura's either too slow to figure it out, or he knows and is just fooling us all. I'm not saying which it is, though :x Aw I'm sorry D: I just didn't want to leave people hanging, wondering 'where the hell did she go?' because I've been left hanging like that a few times, myself ^^" Not sure if that makes you a stalker or not, actually. Depends on the laws XD Glad you like! :D

Animelvr16: I'm glad you liked! Another chapter, coming up!

Nightwitch1312: There's always going to be a surprise around every corner. Expect the unexpected ;) Marik does need to man up and tell Bakura how he feels. He knows Bakura's cool with people being gay, after all, so it's not like he has to worry about that. Glad you liked! Sorry about the teases ^^" They're just so fun and keep even me on my toes XD

OtEpShAmAyA: Yami is the evil Marik from the show, and Thief is the Thief King version of Bakura from when they went into the past in the last season. Hope that helps ^^" Yup, more teasing ;) Marik and Ryou needed to have a complete heart to heart after the drama that occurred between them ^^" Glad you thought it was sweet :3 As said before, since giving this away won't do any harm, Bakura and his friends didn't see. Only Marik and Ryou know. ^^

AnonymousGuest: Hehe, sorry ^^" Marik had to interrupt, or the rating of this fic would have shot up XD Don't worry. As I said in another reply (and it's not a spoiler) no one saw, so everything's good. Bakura's house, coming up next! :D

Annzy Bananzy: He's either oblivious or just fooling us all ;) The Outsiders is a book and a film about two teenage gangs. It's one of my favorite movies :3 I've figured most of them out, so it's easier now XD Thanks :D Marik's a sneaky little devil when he wants to be, no? ;) Thief's just used to Bakura being the one to get caught and get into trouble, that he's glad he stopped. Perhaps he knows about Bakura's past with the Foster Care system? He might be dense, but he might also be the clearest thinking person in this story XD At least Marik's just like 'yeah, it's possible he likes me, I'll just deal with it when and if the time comes' XD Bakura also wouldn't want to be caught doing something stupid ;) Or, at least, he'd want to protect Marik. Haha I can imagine that, too XD Luckily he's not at that point…yet ;)

Marik's interruption at that time also saved this story from being bumped up in the ratings ;) They all need to just get together and give Bakura a wakeup call/reality check XD At least Marik's come to terms with his feelings, hm? ;) Ryou will always love Marik as a friend, but he'll love Yami as…whatever they consider themselves at this point and time XD I don't think there's anyone else that Marik could imagine kissing. So why not his best friend, instead of his hopeless crush?

Hehe not necessarily anything bad. Sometimes good things come and stay a while. But we'll just have to wait and see ;)

Yugiohfan9: I'm glad you enjoyed! Everyone else are just side stories. Marik and Bakura are definitely the main characters and thus the center of everything. I like most pairings that contain a version of Marik and/or a version of Bakura. ^^ That's why so many appear. Marik and Ryou are best friends, that's all they're going to be, and both of them are okay with that. Plus, like you said, Ryou has Yami anyway. I think Ryou knew all along that he would never have a chance with Marik because his friend is so in love with Bakura; and Ryou knows it. Those little fantasies are fun for us, _and_ Marik as well, so they work out great ;) Bakura's feelings shall remain a secret until the timing is ju-u-u-u-u-u-ust right :D Glad you're enjoying so far!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Marik, Bakura, or any other YuGiOh characters. They all belong to Kazuki Takahasi. I only own Sakura. I make NO money off of writing this here fic.

Dedication: This is dedicated to the two local students who were taken away from the world by a reckless, drunk driver. RIP, you two. This is also dedicated to the other two students who survived the crash (they were in the car with the two that didn't make it. None of them were drunk) A quick recovery to you both!

Dedication 2: This is dedicated to my best friend The Lady Vampire Lilac. We had a little argument a few days ago (but have long since made up), and I just wanted to dedicate this chapter to her, as well. Love ya, sis! 3

000

After school let out for the day, I met Bakura outside by my motorcycle parked in the rack. He was waiting for me, leaning on my bike with his arms folded over his chest. Ryou was with me, and waved at Bakura before giving me his goodbye and taking off to catch the bus. Bakura flipped his hand in a wave before Ryou had run off. I joined Bakura, who was smiling a half-crooked smile.

"So things are okay with you two, now?" He wondered.

"Yeah, we talked it over." I replied. "We're cool."

"Good." Bakura nodded once. "Otherwise, I might have to have a talk with him."

I laughed nervously. "So…um…ready to go?"

Bakura shrugged one shoulder. "Yeah, I'm ready." He informed, grabbing a helmet and strapping it on. "You know how to get to my house now?"

"Not really…I wasn't actually paying attention when Thief was driving. I was just trying not to make eye contact with him."

"Why not?"

"I didn't want him to see me being so weak."

Bakura frowned. "You're not weak. You were in horrible shape, Marik, you can't help that." He snapped at me. "Don't call yourself that again, got me? You wouldn't be here if you were weak. You would've fallen by his hands long ago. No one endures abuse like that and is weak."

I was taken back a bit. That was surprising for him to say….

"Thanks…Bakura…"

He hummed a little in response. "Let's get going then." He said. "I don't particularly want to go, but my mother is complaining that she wants to meet you and hasn't yet."

"She saw me at the mall."

"That's what I told her." Bakura shook his head. "But she said that isn't the same as meeting you."

"Alright, then…"

He sighed. "I don't get it either. Now come on, let's go or I'll never hear the end of it if we get there after she's gone."

"You'll have to speak loudly so I can hear you over the engine."

"Fine."

I got on the bike and started it as I waited for Bakura to get on as well. Once I felt his arms securely around my waist, I took off to the parking lot exit.

"Take a left here." Bakura informed me loudly.

"Alright." I did as he was told as we began to make the journey back to Bakura's home.

000

I stood in Bakura's living room, nervously waiting for him to return with his mother. His father was off on a business trip and wouldn't be back for a few more days, so I at least didn't have to meet him yet. She was apparently eating a late lunch in the kitchen when we arrived, as I'd heard her reply to his shout that she was in there. I was contemplating having a seat until I heard footsteps coming into the living room from another room. I sighed slightly and turned to the entrance way. Bakura strode into the room with a woman in tow. She had long, wavy black hair to her shoulders and bright green eyes. She wore a black pinstripe suit and black heels. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. She had some sort of palm-pilot in her hand that she was writing on.

"Ugh, could you put that down for five seconds?" Bakura wondered.

She held up a finger to silence him. "Be nice, Bakura." Her voice was sweet like honey. "I'll be done in a minute."

"We have shit to do, mom, and so do you." Bakura said. "You might want to hurry this up so you're not late for your meeting."

She sighed and put her pen in the holder on the tablet. She fixed him with a scolding look before turning to me and grinning widely. Her pearly teeth made her pearl necklace and matching earrings look pale in comparison.

"I'm Sakura, Bakura's mother." She informed me, extending her hand. A gold watch jingled on her wrist against silver bangles. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Marik Ishtar." I returned the greeting, shaking her hand as I did so. "The pleasure is all mine."

She nodded and took her arm back. "Seems you two are getting along now, if what Mr. Gozoboro told me is correct?"

"Yes, ma'am." I replied.

"Ma'am makes me feel old." She corrected me. "Sakura is fine."

"Don't be so familiar with him, would you?" Bakura wondered, folding his arms over his chest as he flopped down on the leather couch. "He's my classmate, not one of your clientele."

She rolled her eyes. "Watch it, Bakura, you're on thin ice already." She looked back at me. "I'm just glad he's got a friend besides those other two. They're a bad influence."

I heard the leather squeak under the pressure of Bakura's hands. I smiled softly at his mother.

"They're okay." I said. "I don't talk to them much, but for the most part, there's no real issues…"

"Just with Bakura?" She snorted. "You're kidding me, aren't you?"

"Bakura doesn't give me much trouble either. This was just a onetime thing." I put on my best 'everything's good, please believe me because I'm a good boy' smile that I'd perfected over the years.

She seemed to think it over. "He's in trouble a lot."

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here." Bakura glared at her. "There, you met him and talked to him for a bit. Can we go now?"

Go?

"Fine, fine." She sighed. "But your father will want to meet him when he gets back."

"Fine." Bakura rolled his eyes. "If I ever bring home a girl, are you two going to do this too?"

She chuckled. "Sure we are." She said. "Anyway, nice to meet you Marik. But Bakura seems anxious to get me away from you, and I do have a meeting to go to, so I must be off."

"Nice to meet you too, Sakura." I informed, receiving a grin from her in response.

She looked to Bakura. "I won't be back to late, so you're on your own for dinner. I left frozen pizza and take out menus in the kitchen."

"Alright." He sighed. "I'm not a child, I can take care of myself without instructions."

She smiled and pat him on the head before nodding at me and leaving.

"Dumb broad…" Bakura muttered. "I've been taking care of myself since their biological daughter died and they threw themselves further into their jobs. I think I can handle one more night."

My heart broke for the poor guy. His mother seemed nice, but not having her around must have sucked. I knew it did because my own mother was absent, but at least that wasn't because she willingly chose work over raising my siblings and me. Sure, Bakura was a jackass, but maybe that was because he had to grow up too fast and was pissed off about it? It seemed plausible.

"So they're into their work a lot, hm?" I wondered.

"Yeah." Bakura sighed. "My father's in America doing something with his law firm, and she might have to go with him. Which means I'll have the entire house to myself for an entire week."

"I'd kill to have the house to myself for a week…"

He didn't speak for a moment or two. "What are you going to do about home, anyway? You can't exactly just go home when he kicked you out…"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "I figured I'd go home tonight and hope he's too drunk to remember that I'm not supposed to be there."

"And what are you going to do if he does remember?"

"Run like hell." I replied. "Or just accept the beating…"

"Don't just lie down and take it, Marik." Bakura informed. "You fought me in class, which is why we're here in the first place, so I know you're not pathetic in that department."

"If I fight back, it'll only get worse." I said. "You hear stories all the time about victims fighting back, and their attackers kill them for it…"

"You also hear stories about victims snapping and killing their attackers."

"I don't have it in me to kill someone. No matter how much I hate him."

Bakura sighed. "When the going gets tough, Marik, you do things you thought you never would."

"I know, but…"

"Hey, since you'll be here for it, what do you want to eat for dinner?" He stood quickly, seemingly wanting to get away from the topic now.

"Um…anything, I guess." I shrugged. "You know I can cook, right? If you want an actual meal?"

"Yeah, you're not doing that. This isn't your house." Bakura said. He grabbed me by the wrist and pulled. "Come. Pick out a menu. Unless you want frozen pizza."

"That's fine."

Bakura shook his head. "Come on."

I let him pull me into the kitchen, ignoring how my face was getting hotter and hotter as he dragged me along with him.

000

Bakura's house wasn't really boring during the day, parse, but we spent a lot of time sitting on the couch; watching TV and not doing anything at all. Once we were both hungry, we ordered Chinese and sat in the kitchen together, saying nothing. After eating for about ten to twenty minutes, it was Bakura who spoke first.

"Are you going home tonight? Or do you want to stay here again?" He wondered.

"I'm not sure your mother would approve…" I answered, swallowing the noodles in my mouth.

"You slept over Saturday night."

"That was different, because they didn't know I was here." I replied. "Sneaking into Thief's house last night wasn't much fun either. I think I got a splinter from his ladder."

"Could be. It's old as hell."

I laughed. When my laughter ceased, I saw Bakura cracking a small smile.

"You laughing…that's a sound I could get used to." Bakura chuckled at the reaction on my face.

"I've gotten used to your laugh, as well." I winked.

Bakura flushed. "Ass."

"Takes one to know one."

"Smartass."

"Better a smartass then a dumbass, right?"

"Yeah…way better." Bakura chuckled. "If you were a total idiot, I wouldn't be able to deal with you at all. I would've beaten your ass a long time ago."

"You wouldn't be the only one doing that, then."

My words hung heavy in the air.

"I'm sorry." Bakura told me. "I didn't mean to…"

"It's fine, I know what you meant." I sighed. "Don't think I take everything seriously as all get out, okay? I don't take things at face value. It's something I've learned from dealing with life."

"Life always has a few curveballs to throw at you, like my caseworker once said to me."

The phone rang before I could answer. He excused himself and grabbed a chord-less phone from the counter; still eating from his take out carton with chopsticks as he spoke.

"Bakura." He greeted.

I didn't hear the person on the other end, but I saw Bakura frown heavily. He practically threw his chopsticks into the carton.

"Fine, whatever. Have fun in America. Bye." He shut the phone off and came back to the counter to sit with me.

"Your mother?" I wondered.

"What was your first f…?" He stopped. "Sorry, it's not you I'm mad at. Ugh, they always do this. they last minute go to America together, and leave me here to fend for myself without so much as a 'here's how to contact us, stay safe." He sighed heavily. "I'm not hungry now. That killed my appetite. Moron can't even figure out why I'm annoyed. Do I have to spell it out for her? Is she so wrapped up in her work that she can't see anything else around her?" He slammed a fist on the table, making me jump a little. He noticed and his expression softened. "I don't mean to go off like that…"

"Do you want to go to America with them sometimes?"

"Hell, yeah." He nodded. "Anything would be better then here. I used to ask them to bring me something. Like a snack or some little thing, but they always forget and buy me something at the airport here and try to convince me it's the same. The sticker says 'Made in Tokyo', not 'Made in China'."

I snorted a little as I laughed at his little joke. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh…"

"Well, I meant for it to be funny at the end there so laugh all you want."

He winked, making me laugh even more. He chuckled.

"I hate to kill the mood, but are you sure you should go home tonight? No one's going to be here, so…"

"I know." I said. "But I think I should go home. Test the waters, so to speak."

"You're crazy."

"Explains why I get along with you."

Bakura threw a chopstick at me.

"Mature." I laughed as I threw it back at him.

"I know I am. I'm the most mature person you know, Marik. The system made me that way." He looked away, as if realizing what he said. "If you're serious about going home tonight, I should go with you. I'll walk home after. No one would mess with me."

"Because you'd beat the tar out of them."

Bakura chuckled. "Exactly." He said.

"I'd rather you stay here." I answered. "If something happens, I'll drive back. No big deal."

"Just don't forget your motorcycle like you did the other day, alright?"

I had had to sneak back to my house Monday morning to get my motorcycle for school, but my father had already left for work. I had run into Odion, who was wondering where I was and saying that Ishizu had wanted to start a search party for me. I told him the truth, of course. He scolded me for not calling and even staying at Bakura's and then Thief's in the first place. I thought I'd hit him when he asked me if I still had my V-card. I wasn't really ready to try and go home, but he had made me promise and said that he'd be there if dad pulled anything. I didn't think he could do anything at all, but it was nice knowing that he at least offered to have my back.

"I won't forget." I shook my head. "I don't want to have to sneak over again. I might run into him instead of Odion."

"Your brother caught you? What did you tell him?"

"The truth."

Bakura groaned, tilting his head back to rest on the back of the chair. "He didn't say anything to me, so I guess it's fine." He sighed. "Just don't let him think things he shouldn't be thinking."

"He didn't think anything. Just glad that I'm safe."

"Fine." Bakura nodded. "Well, we still have two hours left." He sat upright to look at me. "TV?"

"Yeah, I guess." I shrugged not knowing what else to do.

He stood. "I'll pick up the trash the day before they get back. I always leave a mess when they're gone. Who's gonna tell me otherwise?"

"Me."

"Do so and I'll _make_ you cook dinner for me."

"I wouldn't mind. I already offered earlier." I said. "It's the least I could do."

He smiled softly and shrugged as he stood. "I guess." He agreed. "I'm going to the bathroom. Go on back and find something to watch, maybe rent a movie."

"Alright."

He smiled awkwardly at me before leaving to find a bathroom. Once I was sure he was gone, I threw out the garbage. I went into the living room to find something halfway descent, considering I didn't have a TV and therefore knew nothing about popular shows. I smiled softly as I thought of Bakura offering to go to my house to protect me from my father. But if Bakura showed up at the house, I wasn't the one who would need the protecting.


	19. I Won't Give Up

Dlbn: Hey there, everyone! And welcome to another update!

Nbld: We're excited to not be too late here, which is good. So let's get onto the Review Corner! Thank you to xChaoticDawnx, impurepet, AnonymousGuest, Pharaoh Silver, NightWitch1312, animelvr6, yugiohfan9, VampirePrinssess, BakuraxMalikNum1Fan, ilovemanicures, OtEpShAmAyA, and Dynamite and Soup for reviewing! Chocolate coins and sugar cookies for you all! -hands out some of each-

xChaoticDawnx: Haha, they tend to do so, yeah ^^" Some teens may be able to handle it. But we're all lucky if Bakura doesn't burn down his own house in a fit of rage against his parents XD Either Marik or Odion needs to do something about him, that's for sure. That's no way to live; in constant fear. I'm glad you like! Aw :3

Impurepet: Thank you! Marik cooking for Bakura would be like me cooking for my boyfriend. Something would end up burnt XD My professors don't really give out much homework, just reading from the book. But my classes didn't transfer, so it's mostly review for me and I don't read anyway XD Aw thanks. I appreciate that you find the time :3 I think my writer's block is gone for good. The thing in my way (a person causing issues in my relationship) is mostly gone, so I don't have to worry about that anymore :D Aw I luv you too :3

AnonymousGuest: Yeah, they really do D: -hugs Bakura-

Pharaoh Silver: Haha poor Bakura's getting the look of death XD Don't let him go ;) Sorry, 'Kura ^^"

NightWitch1312: Hehe they've definitely been getting closer, considering how far apart they were in the beginning XD Haha we all hope that, I admit ;)

Animelvr16: I'm glad you like!

Yugiohfan9: Bakura's becoming softer with Marik. Hehe ^^ Glad you liked! Haha, yeah I got what you were aiming for there XD Aw thanks! :3

VampirePrinssess: Maybe they forgot…? ^^" I think Bakura could kick Marik's father's ass if he ever needed to hehe. Marik cooking would be fun. Hopefully he wouldn't have a fantasy in the middle of it XD Haha I couldn't resist that joke ;)

BakuraxMalikNum1Fan: Glad you liked! Happy ending….perhaps ;) can't give away too much, now XD

Ilovemanicures: Hey there! Aw glad to hear that! :D Thanks. Characterization is something I work hard on to keep consistent ^^ Ryou's a little spitfire, isn't he? XD Yeah, I try to catch the grammar and spelling things, but sometimes I miss them ^^" Thank you for reading! :D

OtEpShAmAyA: Thank you! :D

Dynamite and Soup: Haha glad it could make you laugh XD That was a very appropriate reaction, actually ^^ Glad you enjoyed!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own YuGiOh or any character in this fanfic. They belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of writing this fanfic in this category. I just enjoy doing it.

000

Later that night, I made my way to my home; hoping my father wouldn't be home. And if he was home? Well, I just hoped he wouldn't say anything about me not having the right to be there or whatever his excuse would be. His car was in the driveway, parked at an odd angle as usual. I took a deep breath as I stood on the front stoop. I collected myself enough to be able to go inside to face him, and my trembling hand grabbed the formerly shiny brass doorknob. I turned it with a little difficulty and entered the home. I looked around and didn't see him. He was probably in his study to get ready for his night out. Sure, it was Monday and a work night, but hey, that never stopped him before. I saw Odion come out of the kitchen with a sandwich, and he froze in place with the sandwich poised between his lips. His eyes were wide as he put the sandwich down.

"What are you doing here?" He wondered. "Dad's home, and…"

"I know he is." I nodded. "But I do live here. I can't just stay away forever can I?"

"If you were smart, you would." He patted me on the shoulder as he passed me to sit on the couch.

"How bad of a mood is he in?"

"Not too bad." Odion shook his head. "But just be careful. I don't know how he'll react to you yet."

I started to answer, but the door to my father's study opened. He walked out into the hallway, stumbling slightly. It was most likely caused by alcohol. I would be very surprised if it was anything but that. He stopped at the end of the hallway and stared at me like he didn't recognize me.

"Haven't seen you in a while." He said, his words slurred. "Come out of your room more often…"

"Yes, sir."

"And clean up. You look like hell."

"Yes, sir."

He gave me a look before slipping on his shoes and storming out of the house. Once the door slammed, I heard the door to a room in the back open. Ishizu stormed into the living room and stopped right in front of me. I caught her wrist before she could actually slap me. She tried to slap me with her other hand, but I caught that wrist as well.

"What the hell, Ishizu? My nose might be broken; watch out." I scolded her.

"Where in the world have you been?" She wondered. "You haven't been home for days!" She went to kick out, but I stepped to the side and lightly pushed her away. Her back fell against the couch as she glared up at me. "And who the hell hit you and broke your nose?!"

"Who do you think?" I folded my arms over my chest and nodded my head towards the door.

"Dad…?"

"I came home late on Saturday." I answered. "He was pissed and beat the shit out of me."

"Did you go to Ryou's?"

"Er…Yeah…"

Odion tilted his head back over the couch back to look at me. "The truth can take you a long way, Marik." He informed.

I sighed and looked away. "I went to Ryou, but he was busy and turned me away. So I was walking down the road when Thief found me. He brought me to Bakura's place to get patched up by Bakura. I stayed there Saturday night, then came here for my bike Sunday morning, and spent the day and Sunday night with Bakura again."

Ishizu looked at me like I had suddenly grown two more heads. "Are you _insane_!?" She waited until our father's car drove off before she screamed at me. "Who knows what he could have done to you!"

Odion stifled laughter at that, rolling his eyes and sitting straight again as Ishizu glared at him.

"He just patched me up." I replied. "I was injured and I needed somewhere to stay. Besides, we had to spend five hours together Sunday anyway."

"You spent more then five hours there." Ishizu folded her arms over her chest to mimic me. "So that means you don't have to see him every day this week."

"Are you kidding me?" I snarled. "I have to see him every day this week, and you know why."

"Because you're in love and want to cling to him to see if he develops feelings for you, and if he does, you're going to act upon your own feelings."

"No." I shook my head. "Because that's the punishment."

"And what are you going to do? Tell the principal that your sister wouldn't let you go?" She asked me. "He'll just suspend you, and call social services for your little boy toy."

"He's not my boy toy." I replied. "And if I don't go, he'll come here to find me. And if dad's home…"

"So what if dad's home?" Odion wondered. "He knows who Bakura is by now."

"Dad threatened to kill him."

My words hung heavily in the air as silence reigned.

"What?" Ishizu wondered.

Odion had set his bowl down during the silence and sat on his knees on the couch to look at me.

"Dad…" I went through what had happened the night dad had beat me. "He said 'when my boys and I are through with your friend, you won't even recognize him'." I repeated his words. "I can't let that happen…"

"Bakura can take care of his own ass." Ishizu said. "If he hadn't kept you out so late, this wouldn't have happened."

I made a fist but didn't move it. Living with my father had taught me to never raise my hand to someone else. "Stop blaming Bakura." I ordered. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe I happen to like Bakura and was having a good time, so that's why I stayed out so late and didn't look out for my curfew?"

Her lack of a reply made me certain she hadn't thought of that.

"So before you go and blame him for everything, think about what I want too, you know." I told her. "I like him. And as far as I can tell, he likes having me around. He may not have feelings for me, and he may never have feelings for me, but that isn't going to change the fact that I like being out with him more then I like being stuck here with judgmental you and the drunken bastard."

"Marik, watch it." Odion said. "Tread lightly through shallow waters."

Ishizu looked like she was going to start shaking and screaming at me any minute. I was surprised when she talked calmly and slowly.

"Marik…I'm well aware of what you…feel…about him, but…you're putting yourself in danger by…"

"What danger? He hasn't done a single bad thing since we started actually getting along." I informed. "You can ask Thief if you don't believe me." I shook my head. "I just don't get why you can't support me like Ryou does…or like Odion…"

Odion shook his head slowly and I felt my heart sink. "What?" I wondered softly. "But… Odion…"

"I understand that you like him, and I'm behind you 100 percent if you need me or want someone to talk to." He began to explain himself. "But putting your faith completely into Bakura like this is suicidal. Sure, he's stopped doing things that he shouldn't have been doing in the first place. But…he beat up one of dad's friends, even though he most likely deserved it…"

"He wouldn't take his hands off of me." I rubbed my shoulders as I shuddered at the memory. I'd felt like a piece of meat at the deli counter that he had not-so-rightfully had his eyes on. I'd felt disgusting.

"And he does have a history of causing problems with the law. You know all this, and it's nothing new." Odion said. "I don't like the idea of you being with him so often, but since it's your punishment from the Principal, though not really a punishment if you think about it, I've gone along with it. I just don't want you hurt."

"I thought you were behind me on this, though…"

"I am." Odion nodded. "I may not like Bakura or like the idea of you wanting to be with him, but in the end, it is your decision. And Ishizu and I and dad aren't going to stop you." He shook his head. "But he's gotten you into trouble. You got beaten up because you let your feelings for him get in the way of your thinking. And now dad has a vendetta against him? A vendetta you know he's going to act upon?" He paused. "Marik, you know damn well that you can't protect Bakura from dad. Bakura may not even be able to protect Bakura from dad. Maybe staying away from him for a bit is a good idea…"

"How could you even suggest that? If the Principal finds out, and I'm sure Ishizu would tell him, then I get suspended and Bakura gets reported to CPS!"

"Maybe it's for the best." Ishizu said. "That way you can forget about your little crush and move onto someone else. I don't care if it's another guy or not, but there has to be someone else. Someone not as…troubled…"

I sighed. "You two just don't understand. I can't help what I feel." I turned on my heel and stormed into my room, slamming the door behind me.

I flopped down on my bed and put my arms behind my head. Turning my head to lay sideways on right my arm and face away from the door, I closed my eyes. My siblings could never understand how I felt. I knew it wasn't safe to be this close to Bakura. And my fantasies were getting a little harder to control. Maybe I did need some time away from him, but not until this was over. I briefly though of calling Ryou to bitch and moan, or sneaking out to his place to do so, but he had told me that Yami was coming over tonight, so it was useless. And I couldn't go to Bakura because I'd have to explain myself…not to mention stay the night at his house alone, with his parents not even being there. And I didn't know how long it would be until one of my fantasies took over and I snapped out of it with my lips pressed to Bakura's, or his fist hitting my cheek.

000

Ryou sat across from me in lunch the next day and listened to my spiel about what had happened the night before.

"It's alright to want to be with your crush all the time." Ryou said. "That's normal."

"But my fantasies aren't." I shook my head.

"What makes you say that?"

"Oh, like _you_ ever fantasized about you-know-who?"

"Well…a few times, yeah…" He bushed. "I've fantasized over other people, too…"

I blushed. "S-Shut up, Ryou…"

Ryou laughed at me. I sighed.

"But do you think my siblings have a point?"

"Hey, look who I'm dating, huh?" Ryou winked. "If I had a problem with you liking a bad boy, I'd be quite the hypocrite, wouldn't I?"

"Yeah, that's true, you would."

We both laughed.

"So what are you going to do about your father and his little vendetta?" Ryou took a sip of his milk. "I mean, you're not going to be able to defend him; Odion and Ishizu have that right."

"I'm sure he can handle himself. But I if can steer him clear of the old bastard, then…"

"There's a chance where you won't have to find out the outcome of them meeting up?"

"Right."

"But you know it might happen. There's no way you can avoid your father completely when he knows you'll be with you-know-who." Ryou nodded slightly behind me and we dropped the topic.

I took a few fries and popped them in my mouth. As expected, a pale hand stole a French fry from the carton on my tray.

"What's up?" Bakura wondered, going to my side and sitting down.

"Nothing." I replied.

Thief and Yami took seats with us as well; Yami next to Ryou and Thief at Yami's other side.

"We're going to skip Math." Yami informed. His arm moved as though he was putting his hand on Ryou's knee; which I was sure he was. "Do you want to?"

Ryou shrugged. "I don't really skip classes, sorry." He put his hand under the table.

"What about you, Marik?" Bakura wondered. "Gonna skip?"

"I…er…"

"Oh, come on. It's a yes or no answer. It's not hard."

"Don't pressure him to, 'Kura." Thief ordered.

"I'm not." Bakura grinned at me. "Well?"

"If my siblings find out, they'll skin me alive…"

"Who says they have to find out?"

Ryou looked at me and shrugged. "I will if you will…"

"Won't they think it's odd that the five of us are skipping class?" I wondered.

"I'm not in your class, so it doesn't really matter." Thief informed.

"Doesn't matter the class." I replied. "You guys are friends, I'm friends with Ryou, Mr. Gozoboro knows Bakura and I actually get along now…won't he suspect something?"

Bakura gave me a look. "I doubt it." He looked to Seto and his siblings. "They skip at least once a week and he doesn't care."

"They're his kids; they can do what they want." Yami scowled.

"I guess…" I sighed, weighing the consequences over in my head. If we didn't get caught, we would be fine…right? "Yeah, I'll do it." I nodded.

"Good." Bakura nodded. "You stick with me. Ryou, stay with Yami. We'll meet in the woods."

Everyone agreed to Bakura's terms before he stood. "I've got something to do. I'll be back. Thief, Yami, let's go."

"Coming." Thief and Yami answered as one, standing up one after the other.

The three of them left the cafeteria together.

"I wonder what they want." I stated.

"Orgy?"

I spit out my drink. "What the hell, Ryou?"

He just laughed.


	20. Oath

Dlbn: Hey everyone! Sorry about the late update! My bf just came home from NYC, and it's finals week, so it's been very busy. Not to mention Christmas coming up. (I have two-three more people to shop for ^^")

Nbld: Plus some family drama, but we won't get into that ^^

Dlbn: But anyway, here we are with another update!

Nbld: So let's begin with the Review Corner! Thank you to animelvr6, AnonymousGuest, Pharaoh Silver, NightWitch1312, impurepet, yugiohfan9, OtEpShAmAyA, VampirePrinssess, and ilovemanicures for reviewing! Bakura and Marik shaped Christmas cookies for you all!

Animelvr6: Glad you enjoyed! One class skipping, coming up! :D

AnonymousGuest: They're just over protective psychos…like my parents! XD When I think of Yami and Ryou, I think of Raoul and Christine's secret engagement in Phantom of the Opera, for some reason XD Aw I'm glad to hear it! :D

Pharaoh Silver: Poor Kaiba's half dead there XD -Glomps Bakura- Yay, I'm helping! :D

NightWitch1312: It may, and it may not hehe ;) She has his best interests in mind, but she's talking it a little too far XD Glad you like! :D

Impurepet: -Holds up booze- Here you go! :D Sorry to leave everyone hanging hehe ^^" Ishizu needs to back off, I agree. But it's her baby brother she's trying to protect, so she won't…yet ;)

Yugiohfan9: Glad you liked! Bakura might have to deal with the old man eventually, unfortunately :/ Glad you liked! Ryou couldn't help himself in that one…and neither could I XD

OtEpShAmAyA: Orgy in the woods! XD Glad you like, but don't die! D:

VampirePrinssess: Ryou's got a secret dark side to him, it seems ;) Marik's got enough issues with his father. He doesn't need Bakura adding to it.

Ilovemanicures: He's worse than my friends are sometimes XD Must be the lack of booze that made him forget XD Hehe thanks! Bakura taught Marik how to steal, so we know he's not a good influence already XD Maybe some time apart would help things. Or at least calm down Ishizu and Odion. Glad you liked! My weekend was okay. Hope yours was too!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Marik, Ryou, Bakura, Thief, Yami, or any other character from the YuGiOh franchise. They belong to Kazuki Takahasi. I make NO money off of writing in this category. I only have fun doing so :D

000

Ryou and I met Bakura and his friends in the woods about ten minutes into our next class. We had hidden in the weight room connected to the locker rooms until we were sure it was safe to come out without being caught in the hallway. Bakura and his friends were already waiting for us. Bakura was leaning up against a tree, Yami was sitting against one, and Thief was pacing.

"About _time_ you got here." Yami complained.

"Sorry, we had to hide from Security." I explained as Ryou joined Yami.

My best friend plopped down on his lover's lap, and Yami wrapped his arms around him in response. I took a seat on a stump next to Bakura.

"Good, we're all here. And comfortable?" Bakura asked, looking at me and then Ryou. "We need to talk business."

"Business?" I wondered.

"Yeah, how this is going to work." Thief made his finger go in a circle as he spoke, meaning the five of us.

"How what's going to work?" I wondered. "Be clearer."

Thief gave me a look.

"What he's _trying_ to tell you, is we were thinking of merging our little groups together into one." Bakura explained. "After all, I'm friends with you, and Yami's screwing Ryou…"  
"You _told_?" Ryou flushed as he glared at Yami.

"Actually, you just did, Ryou." Bakura informed.

"He assumed." Yami shrugged and squeezed Ryou's waist. "What happens between us stays between us…" He looked at me.

I put my hands up. "I know nothing."

He winked.

"Alright, enough." Bakura glared at Yami. "Serious time, here."

"Aren't we basically one big group anyway?" I wondered. "You guys sit at our table a lot."

"Yeah, when Yugi and his friends aren't around." Ryou added.

Thief shrugged. "What's your point?"

"I'm just saying…" Ryou muttered.

"Alright, shut up, both of you." Bakura ordered. "So merging our groups together shouldn't be that big a deal I guess then, right?"

"No." I said.

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Alright, then let's get onto our next piece of business."

"Which is?" I wondered, cocking an eyebrow.

"Our next school-wide prank, of course."

"Bakura, you can't get in any more trouble." I warned. "You heard what the Principal said."

"Says the guy who's in the same boat as me, yet thought it was perfectly fine to skip class, hm?"

I sighed. There was no way I could win that argument. I _was_ standing there, after all. "Fine, Bakura, you win."

"I always win."

I rolled my eyes. "Except when you lose."

"Which is never."

"You will one day."

"Naw, I don't think so."

I heard Ryou giggling at us and gave him a look. He smiled softly at me; his lips quivering to hold back his laughter.

"What's so funny?" Bakura wondered.

"Your little banter back and forth." Ryou giggled. "Are you two like this alone, too?"

I flushed. "Shut up, Ryou." I ordered.

He laughed at me.

"So what's the plan this time, Bakura?" Thief wondered. "Better be a good one."

"I was thinking doing something on a large scale. As for what, I don't know exactly yet." Bakura explained. "Any ideas?"

No one said anything.

"Food fight…?" Ryou offered.

The others looked at him oddly.

"Serious?" Bakura wondered. "How juvenile."

"Anyone else have a bright idea?" Yami wondered.

No one spoke again.

"Ugh, come _on_." Bakura ordered. "We can't have done every prank imaginable already."

"Mouse traps on the floor?" Thief offered.

"Flood the gym…?" I put out there.

Everyone stared at me. I watched Thief's lips curl into a grin at the idea.

"Flood the gym." He nodded.

"How'd you come up with that?" Bakura wondered.

"I hate gym class."

They laughed.

"So how do we do this?" Yami wondered.

Bakura smirked. "I have a plan."

000

We had decided to put the prank into action on Friday, since mine and Bakura's punishment would be almost over by then. I have no idea what possessed me to even _offer_ up an idea, but what was done was done, and there was nothing I could do about it after that. What made Ryou and I decide to skip class, too, was something I'd never understand. Yugi had noticed that we'd skipped and had asked me about it. I told him I was at the nurse's, not feeling good, and he was with me for support. Yugi had believed it, and that had been the end of it no one else bothered to ask, not even my math teacher when he passed me in the hall later that day. Once the school bell rang, I practically skipped to my locker to drop off my books. I wouldn't need them, as I didn't have homework, so I didn't feel like carrying them to Bakura's, and then back home.

After dropping off my books, I practically ran down the almost-deserted hallway, but I didn't want to cause suspicions of anyone else. Only the five of us knew about our little 'group merge', as Bakura put it. We decided to keep it a secret because it would seem suspicious that we all joined up just when I started getting along with Bakura. Plus, I had a feeling Yami hadn't wanted Ryou to get in trouble if they got caught for the flooding. I wondered if Bakura felt the same way for me, in that manner? I mean, I would like to know if he felt about me the same way I felt about him. But just knowing he didn't want me in trouble was a start.

I slowed down as I neared the doors and calmly walked out. Bakura was waiting by my bike with Thief and Yami. The others saw me, pretended not to care, and walked away.

"That was quick." Bakura informed me.

"Yeah, I know it was." I replied. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's get lost." He said. "I don't want to be here more then I have to be."

"I hear that." I laughed, getting on my bike.

Once I had started my bike up and put my helmet on, Bakura put on his helmet and sat behind me. I revved the engine before taking out of the parking lot. Bakura was right. The less time we spent at this hell hole, the better.

000

I sat in Bakura's living room, watching TV with the silver-haired object of my desire. He looked completely zoned out and ready to fall asleep on the left side of the couch. I felt like poking him to see if he was awake, but I felt it would be too weird. My stomach growled slightly and I grabbed it in hopes of hiding the noise. My efforts were for naught, though, because I heard Bakura chuckle.

"Hungry, Marik?" He wondered.

"Yeah, a little, I guess." I replied.

My stomach growled again.

"More like a lot." Bakura chuckled. "What do you want to order?"

"I believe I offered to make dinner one day." I stated.

"Well…I don't really want you to have to do that when I can order unlimited take out…"

"I don't _have_ to. I _want _to."

"And I want you to stay the night again one night, but you won't do that. So why should I let you do what you want, hm?" he folded his arms and looked sideways at me.

I snarled. "You know I have to go home. My old man doesn't even remember beating me, and…"

"Bullshit." Bakura argued. "I don't care what he remembers when he's _sober_. I care what he's done and might remember if he's drunk enough again. You're a glutton for punishment if you go back over there willingly."

I sighed. "Look, Superintendent's day is Thursday. I'll sleep over tomorrow night, okay?" I stated. "Now what do you want to eat?"

"Whatever's in the pantry that you can make, I guess…"

I grinned, thankful he let me cook, and left for the kitchen. I heard him follow me as I got to the pantry and began searching. "Is some kind of macaroni okay?"

"Fine by me." He nodded.

I gathered the ingredients I'd need and put them on the island in the middle of the kitchen before turning to Bakura. "Pots and pans?" I wondered.

He pulled open a cabinet next to him. I walked over and grabbed what I needed. It put that on the island as well before turning to Bakura. He pointed to a drawer before I could even ask anything, making my smile. How he knew what I was thinking, I didn't know, but I was glad he did. I took a pan and walked to the sink. I put water from the tap, which went through a filtration system, into the pan and set it on the stove before adding a pinch of salt to it.

I noticed Bakura watching me cook as he took a seat on a stool at the island. His eyes followed my every move as I prepared spaghetti to make. I went t the fridge to look for some type of meat to put in the sauce. I opened the door and looked around.

"Want any meat in the sauce?"

"Hamburger or something works." He replied.

I found what looked like a hamburger and pulled it out. Since it looked pretty cold, I threw it in the microwave for a few moments. I returned to the island to see that Bakura was still watching my every move.

"You act like you've never seen someone cook before."

"Not really." Bakura shrugged. "I don't really care much for what my mother's up to. I stole her gift, remember? I obviously don't care that much…"

I sighed. "I should teach you how to cook." I poked him. "If you keep eating takeout, you'll get fat."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't get fat."

"Sure you don't." I rolled my eyes. "Well, now isn't the time to find out. You're fine how you are." My hand flew up and covered my mouth. "I didn't mean it like that…"

Bakura chuckled. "I'm glad you approve." He informed.

"Do you want to learn how to cook?"

"Aren't you done making it?"

"Yeah, but it still needs to cook on the stove."

Bakura said. "Teach me another time, alright?"

"Fine." I nodded. "If you don't complain when I do."

"Fine."

I smiled at him and returned to my cooking. I tried to ignore the way he was watching my every move still, but it was hard; knowing that my crush's brown eyes were boring into me. I tried to hide how his gaze me squirm, but I couldn't help the small shiver that ran up my spine when I realized that not only was Bakura going to eat something I cooked, but he was also going to watch me do it, and I was going to teach him another time. I gave a crooked smile at the thought.


	21. I Knew You Were Trouble

Dlbn: Hey everyone! Sorry about the long wait! But between holidays and drama, I haven't had much time to write.

Nbld: But now that the dust has settled and it's 2013, we'd like to welcome you to the first chapter of the year!

Dlbn: Exactly! We know it's short, but we thought we'd at least get a chapter put up.

Nbld: So without further ado, let's get started with the Review Corner! Thank you to animelvr16, AnonymousGuest, Dynamite and Soup, impurepet, NightWitch1312, VampirePrinssess, Annzy Bananzy, Enchanting Fujin, OtEpShAmAyA, Ssennotta, Pharaoh Silver, Preussan, sarahrachizu, canofawesome, and haleyy13 for reviewing! Candy and other sweets for you all!

Animelvr16: Glad you enjoyed! Marik sleeping over will be coming up soon.

AnonymousGuest: Glad you liked! Well, now that the sexual tension is out of the way…XD thanks! Happy holidays to you, too! (Though I'm late on that one ^^")

Dynamite and Soup: Aw I'm glad :) Hehe he'll have to remain annoyingly ambiguous for a little while ;) Bakura-development is small and far between, but it always happens at important times :3

Impurepet: that made me laugh XD Ra bows in response ;) I'm not much of a cook either. But I'm a better cook then my boyfriend, so I guess that's something XD if I had Bakura and Marik cookies, I'd squee with joy for hours XD we don't really have finals week at my college, we just have finals in our scheduled classes. But they went well, thanks ^^ I got a B this semester, which ruins my 4.0, but I'm still proud of my grades ^^ Wow, that's awesome. Congrats! Aw, glad I helped cheer you up :3 Thanks, we had a good holiday. Hope you did too.

NightWitch1312: It was one of my favorite parts to write ^^ Even Ryou has his moments, apparently XD Well, I can't reveal when it'll be ;) Well, now it's Jan 3, so we will XD

VampirePrinssess: Aw thank you! Hehe you're welcome. I'd probably burn the food along with the house if Bakura was watching me cook. Or if anyone was, really XD Considering they've done it before, they shouldn't have an issue XD

Annzy Bananzy: that they are XD Bakura's very confusing in this here, isn't he? ;) You never know, people tend to be oblivious to things right under their noses XD Just a little playful jab or two between friends. My friends and I do the same thing all the time. It's just kind of our thing, I guess XD Yeah, it was brought to my attention that they did do it beforehand. I've found a way to fix that, though, without redoing that last chapter. ^^" Glad you like! I'm honored :3

Enchanting Fujin: Yeah, they did do it already, thanks for pointing that out ^^" I knew I'd seen it before, but I looked through and couldn't find it. I've found a way to change it without changing the last chapter. Marik will bring it up later. Thanks a ton ^^ I'd never kill off Bakura -glomps Bakura- It'll be interesting ;)

OtEpShAmAyA: Bakura and Marik are a little slow on the uptake in the romance department, I admit ;)

Ssennotta: Glad you liked! It kind of ended abruptly there, but I didn't know exactly how to end it ^^"

Pharaoh Silver: Hey, more Bakura to love :3 Haha what a plot you and Bakura got going on there XD yay! -Hugs Ryou tightly-

Preussan: Wow O.o That's awesome, I'm glad you like it that much :3 One update, coming up!

Sarahrachizu: Glad you think so! More is on the way!

Canofawesomeness: Don't die! *updates*

Haleyy13: Wow, I'm…I'm honored :3 I'm glad you like it! Thank you, that really means a lot :3 Happy new Year!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Marik, Bakura, Ryou, or any other character/place/location/item from the YuGiOh series. They all belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of writing this. I do this for fun, not profit :3

000

Bakura put more of the spaghetti I had cooked onto his plate. It was the third time he'd done so, and I was happy that he liked the meal I had prepared for him. In fact, I guess I was actually honored that he liked what I had made. My cooking wasn't top notch, but it wasn't bad either. People really didn't go for seconds or thirds on it often, though. Then again, Bakura could have just been hungry. It didn't seem like he ate much around here, other then takeout and the like.

"So…you like it, I assume?" I wondered.

"Dumb question." Bakura retorted, taking a bite. "You're…er…pretty good as a cook…"

"Thanks…" I smiled softly. "After mom died and dad started drinking more, we had to learn how to fend for ourselves. Why do you think I know how to clean and all that stuff, hm?"

Bakura shrugged. "I have to fend for myself most of the time, but I never learned any of that."

I rolled my eyes. "Lazy."

Bakura smirked. "Watch it, you." He ordered. "Just because we're friends now, it doesn't mean anything."

I laughed. "Hey, Bakura…?"

"Yes?"

"Didn't you guys already flood the gym once recently?"

Bakura paused for a moment. "And? It was a good prank."

"Yeah, but do you really want to redo it?"

Bakura shrugged. "We'll switch the location or add a few more creative touches. Maybe make the gym into a pool instead of an aquarium." He laughed.

I rolled my eyes at him. "If you say so. You're the mastermind, after all."

"I am?" Bakura chuckled. "Who's the one who suggested all of this in the first place, hm?"

"You're the one who asked to merge our groups and then asked Ryou and I to help you come up with a plan."

He blinked. "Touché, Marik, touché."

I grinned. "See? Not so smart when you're put up against someone like me, are you?"

He gave me a look. "Watch it. I'm not above kicking you."

I laughed.

000

During lunch the next day, Ryou and I were left alone without Bakura and his friends again. Keeping our merge a secret was apparently a top priority of them, and I respected that. They were keeping Yami's boyfriend and Bakura's close friend out of the trouble. They didn't want us caught and getting in trouble for their pranks, which was admirable; especially for the school's top three miscreants.

"So he might switch locations or something?" Ryou wondered. "He better pick somewhere waterproof, unless our parents have a ton of money lying around to pay for water damage…"

"They won't know we had anything to do with it." I replied. "We discussed this with them yesterday, remember?"

"I know. But I feel bad. I mean, it was _your_ idea, so…"

"Oh stop." I said. "I feel bad, too, but Bakura and the others agree that it's the best thing to do. I think he's just worried that my father might do something to me, that's all."

Ryou nodded. "I understand that. I'm worried for you, too."

I smiled softly. "I appreciate it…"

"Seriously, though, you guys need to get out ASAP." Ryou stated. "I don't care if you're in school or not still. You can't live like this any longer. You shouldn't have had to live like this at all. I get drowning his sorrows in booze, since a lot of people do that nowadays, but taking his anger and frustration out on you guys? Too much." He shook his head.

I sighed. "I know it's not right. But to be honest, we're all afraid to escape." I looked down at my food and twirled it with my fork. "Look, Ryou, there's something I never told you…something important…about Bakura and me…"

He cocked an eyebrow before his jaw dropped in surprise. "You…you two didn't…?"

"No!" I spoke a little too quickly, causing some stares from surrounding tables. I waited until they all averted their gazes before I tried to go on. "My father…he threatened to go after Bakura…"

"What?" Ryou whispered. "Why?"

"For keeping me out so late, for beating up dad's friend that wouldn't take his hands off me…"

"He was protecting you."

"Dad refuses to believe his friend-Tsuki, apparently-did anything wrong." I replied. "And dad thinks he's my boyfriend, though I told him that he wasn't…"

"Well…that's no reason to attack a high school student…"

"Neither is being drunk."

We sat in silence for a moment. Ryou was about to say something, but a voice stopped him.

"Hey, you guys." Joey greeted, sitting next to Ryou. "How ya doing?"

"You need something, Joey?" I wondered.

"Just wanted to say hey…and see if I could bum some notes off of you guys from math yesterday. I fell asleep again…"

"We skipped." I replied, as if it were normal. "But you were asleep, so you wouldn't know that."

"I told you that you wouldn't get anything from them." Yugi spoke. He and the rest of his friends-Atem, Tea, and Tristain, of course-joined us at the table.

"You guys skipped?" Tea wondered. "That's unusual."

"I wasn't feeling good." I said. "So Ryou stayed with me until I was sure I could go to class. We were so late that we didn't see a point in going in once I felt better." I shrugged.

That was the lie that the five of us had come up with for Ryou and me.

"Bakura and Yami skipped, too." Atem said. "I wonder if there's a bug going around or something…"

"You guys weren't with them, were you?" Tea wondered.

"Why would we be? We're not friends…" Ryou said, though I knew it killed him to say he wasn't friends with Yami at least.

"Bakura and Marik seem to get along now." Tristain offered, putting up a finger.

"That doesn't make us friends." I corrected. "It just means we don't want to kill one another every five seconds."

"You know, Thief skipped class yesterday, too." Tea said. "I wonder if Bakura's little gang is up to something."

"Are they ever _not_ up to something?" Yugi asked.

We all laughed at that one.

000

After school let out, I met Bakura by my locker, of all places. He was leaning on it, looking down at his arms, which were folded over his chest. I bit back a sigh as I watched him as I walked closer. He didn't seem to know I was close by, but you never know with him. By Ra, he was hot…

I willed the thought away as I got close enough to him for him to notice my spacing out on him.

"Hey." I greeted. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." He looked up. "You? Where's your stuff to sleep over with?"

"Locker." I spun the combo and pulled my locker open. A duffle bag sat at the bottom of my locker; sitting up sideways against the back.

"What is your dad going to know?"

"He's going on a business trip, so it's the perfect day to run out without saying anything. He won't know that I left. I'll be back before he is."

"When does he come back?"

"Sunday."

"Good." Bakura nodded. "So let's go, then. No one else is around, as far as I know."

"Alright."

"Thief and Yami might come by later. Ryou, too, if Yami remembered to tell him."

"I'll get a hold of him later and make sure." I offered, grabbing my bag. "So I guess I'm cooking for five then, hm?"

"Thief is covering the food and drinks with pizza."

"No alcohol?"

"No." Bakura rolled his eyes. "I know you hate drunks."

"I dealt with you drunk the other day when I brought you back to the mall for your parents to get you." I slammed my locker.

"Still…"

I rolled my eyes and punched his arm lightly, not that I could've hit him any harder. "Come on, let's get going, then."

"Alright."

He followed me out the doors to my bike, and took the extra helmet without saying anything. It seemed like this was routine enough that we didn't _need_ to really say anything before doing it. I knew he was going to, anyway, so it wasn't really a big deal. I got on my bike, as per usual and started it up so we could leave. As expected, Bakura wrapped his arms around my waist before I took off.


	22. Homeboy

Dlbn: Hey everyone! We're late, but we're back!

Nbld: Things have been crazy around here, that's all. But it's behind us for now. So let's get started with the Review Corner! Thank you to Pharaoh Silver, VampirePrinssess, Enchanting Fujin, Anonymous Guest, animelvr16, yugiohfan9, NightWitch1312, impurepet, OtEpShAmAyA, SilverBakura96, Ren-Li, and dr-fanmai-lover for reviewing! Cookies for you all!

Pharaoh Silver: Haha poor Bakura XD Here's an update, so don't die, 'Kura! And yes, you are very pretty :3 Aw, I'm glad you like :3

VampirePrinssess: Joey doesn't like school XD I felt that way in my last class today. I just wanted to disappear _

Enchanting Fujin: Thanks ^^ It's what makes them Marik and Bakura; messing with each other and being bitches XD Haha that's awesome XD They're just spending so much time together that it's only natural. I'm glad you like :D

Anonymous Guest: Sorry for the long wait! XD Glad you like :3

Animelvr16: Glad you liked! Next chapter coming up!

Yugiohfan9: Hehe oh Ra, thank you :3 See? Bakura has his sweet side :3 Sleepover time! Woot! :D

NightWitch1312: Yay for the world not ending! I love it too. It comes on _every time_ my boyfriend is in the car with me. Talk about awkward XD Hehe I can't give out details, but yes you'll find out eventually ;) Aw glad that made you smile :3

Impurepet: Woo, pajama party! :D It's gonna be surprising, that's for sure ;) School started back up for me today. It was great, except for the five hour break between classes -_- Haha welcomes ^^" luv you

OtEpShAmAyA: Sorry for the long wait ^^" Well, the wait is almost over!

SilverBakura86: Aw I'm glad you like :3 You read all of that in one day? _ That's dedication right there. I like most of the pairings, honestly XD They're really getting along now huh? :3 Oops! Those were typos. ^^" I went back and fixed them all. Thanks for bringing it to my attention! Yami Yugi IS Atem in this fic, I just messed up. Sorry for the confusion ^^" Hehe Melvin =^3^=

Ren-Li: All at once? _ Aw thank you :3 As a fangirl myself, I have to say that if there is any lemony goodness in this fic, because of 's rules, it will have to be tamed down so it's not exactly a lemon. I had to do it in another fic I wrote, and it worked pretty well too. But I can't give away if it's going to be in here or not, because I don't' want to spoil anything :3

Dr-fanmai-lover: Yes, there is a videogame called "Lollipop Chainsaw". That is just a coincidence. I didn't name this after the game, and it's not a crossover. Sorry about any confusion!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Marik, Bakura, or any other YuGiOh franchise character. They belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of writing in this category.

Dedication: I know it's a late post, but this is in dedication to my one year anniversary with my amazing boyfriend 3 It was on January 13th, but things were too crazy to post then. He's going through a tough time right now, but I know for a fact that everything will be okay in the end. I love you, babe, and I can't wait to see you again today. You mean the world to me, and I promise that everything will be alright again.

000

Apparently my father being drunk and Bakura being drunk were nothing compared to Thief, Yami, _and_ Bakura being drunk. The three were lounging around in Bakura's living room, as was I, but they were sipping from long necked bottles of beer. I regretted telling Bakura that it was okay to have booze around while I was there, but I didn't want to ruin their fun. As if getting so drunk you didn't know your own name was any fun at all, that is. Ryou sat at my side, holding a bottle of beer that he'd hardly drank from. Yami had his arm around his boyfriend, and kept leaning on his shoulder for support; since he was too drunk to hold his own head up.

"So…what do you guys wanna…do?" Bakura wondered. His head lolled and lay on my shoulder as he waited for the others to reply.

No one said anything in response, and I felt myself blush heavily at the contact between us. It was about ten at night, and the only light came from the television that no one was watching. It was muted, but it was enough to provide light, and something to stare at if you got sick of staring at one another.

"Anything but just sit here like idiots." Thief stated. "Got any games around here, 'Kura?"

"No, not really." Bakura shrugged. "I think there's a copy of Twister around here somewhere."

"Yeah, drunk Twister." Ryou laughed. "That's exactly what we need to play."

Bakura shrugged. "We could always order food…"

"We already ate." I told him.

"Yeah, true." Bakura grinned up at me. "Hey, did you guys know that Marik cooks his own food? And it's…it's pretty good stuff, you know."

"I-It's not that great…" I flushed darker.

"Oh, don't be so modest. I had thirds…"

"You really cook, Marik?" Yami questioned. He looked at Ryou. "Do you?"

"No." Ryou stated. "I'd burn down my house."

"Marik, it's now your official _job_ to give him cooking lessons."

"Watch it." Ryou stated, glaring at his boyfriend. "Or you sleep alone tonight."

"Oh!" Thief and Bakura commented at once.

I couldn't help but laugh at them. Yami glared. "Some…some friends you guys a…are…" He stood quickly. "I'll be right back." He took off towards the back of the house.

The sounds of retching followed, and I unmated the TV to hide the sound. I hated the sound of someone vomiting, as much as I hated drunks. Thief hiccupped.

"Poor guy." Thief stated. "He's always the first one to puke." He took another swig from his bottle of beer.

Bakura laughed. "You're gonna be next." He warned. "I'm always last." He winked up at me, as if that was supposed to impress me.

I rolled my eyes. "It's so good to know you're the last one to puke." I spoke sarcastically, hoping he had enough sense to know it was sarcasm in the first place. "I'm honored that I have a friend who can hold his liquor better then all two of his drunken buddies."

Bakura glared up at me, but he smirked. "You should be. It's a real honor." Bakura nodded. "I mean, how many people can say that they can out drink their buddies that well, hm?"

I rolled my eyes. "Not many people are as lucky as you are, Bakura."

"Good, I'm glad you agree." He winked.

I began to say something, but Yami trudged back into the room and flopped down next to Ryou. He tried putting his arm around the silverette, but Ryou pushed him away.

"Gross, Yami." He stated. "Have a mint."

"I don't have any." Yami reported.

Ryou rolled his eyes and pulled a pack of tic-tac from his pocket. "No excuse."

Yami opened his mouth. Ryou sighed and popped a white tic-tac into his mouth. Yami closed his mouth and sucked on the little mint candy.

"Thanks, babe." He stated.

"Uh huh." Ryou nodded, then offered one to Thief. "Want one?"

Thief shrugged and put his hand out. Ryou shook a tic-tac into his hand, which he ate, before offering it to Bakura. Bakura looked at him with one eyebrow raised.

"Why would I want one of those?" He wondered.

"Because your breath is putrid." I informed.

Bakura glared at me before taking the tic-tac Ryou was offering.

"Can I have more?" Yami wondered. "They taste good."

"No, I don't want you getting addicted."

"To tic-tacs?" I wondered. "Ryou, I don't think that's possible."

"I know, but I don't want him to eat all of them on me." Ryou laughed.

I snorted. "One more won't kill him.":

"I guess." Ryou gave his boyfriend another tic-tac, getting a peck on the lips in return. He pushed Yami away quickly. "Gross!" He complained, sticking out his tongue and closing his eyes. "Go brush your teeth or something!"

"With what?"

"Toilet water." Bakura stated. "Preferably."

Yami glared. "Listen, you…"

"Alright, alright, boys." I stated. "No fighting. Not while Ryou and I are here, at least."

They both seemed to back down at that.

"Whatever." Bakura waved me off. He finally got up off my shoulder and slumped onto the couch; folding his arms over his chest. "So what do we do now?"

"Anyone else have to puke?" I wondered jokingly.

Bakura laughed. "Says the one who won't _touch_ alcohol in any way, shape, or form."

"Hey, you know why I won't." I defended myself. "You said you weren't going to have them bring any in the first place."

"You changed your mind and said it was fine."

"No, I said it was fine, and _you_ told them to bring it." I countered.

"Marik, don't argue with a drunk. You know that better then anyone." Ryou's hands flew up to cover his mouth the second the words came out of his mouth. "Oh my god, Marik, I didn't mean that. I'm so sorry…!"

"Don't worry about it." I grinned. "You do have a point, after all."

He smiled sheepishly at me, but I could tell he was blushing. A cell phone rang and I saw Yami stumble to pull his phone from his pocket.

"Damn, it's home." He groaned, accepting the call. "Yeah, what?"

I blinked. He talked to his parents-or whoever was calling-like that?

"I'm a little busy…can't she just…but…dad…ugh. Fine. Whatever." Yami hung up and put his phone away. "My father wants me to babysit my sister. Apparently my parents are going out with friends last minute and can't find anyone else." He stood shakily. "I better get going."

"I'll walk you home." Ryou offered. "It's late, and I don't want you stumbling around in the dark." He smiled. "Besides, I think I have to be home soon, too."

"Stay at my place the night. My parents won't ask questions…I hope."

"You don't know your parents very well, do you, dude?" Thief yawned. "I better get going, too. It's 10 PM and I'm tired as fuck. School sucks balls."

"Only if you ask it to nicely." Bakura offered.

Thief snorted and stood. "You two want a ride?"

"I'm not getting in the car with a drunk driver." Ryou stated. "I have my license, if you'd rather have me drive you guys?"

"Yeah, I'll stay at Yami's for the night." Thief stretched.

"I'd rather it just be us, dude." Yami raised an eyebrow.

"Fine, fine." Thief groaned. "Then Ryou will have to drop me home, then go to your place. I'll walk over tomorrow to get my car. No one will care if you have it, as long as it's safe."

"It's not a standard is it? because I can't drive a stick…" Ryou informed.

"It's not." Thief shook his head and pulled out his car keys. He stumbled towards the door with the other two in tow. "Night, losers."

"Call me if you need anything!" Ryou waved before vanishing out the door with the two drunks.

The slamming of the door seemed final to me. I looked at Bakura, who was about to fall asleep. "Tired, Bakura? Want to go to bed?" I wondered.

"No way." He replied. "But we can go in my room if you'd like."

I felt my heart skip a beat. "S-Sure."

Bakura stood shakily. "You may have to help me upstairs."

"Got it." I put an arm around Bakura's waist to lead him to the stairwell.

000

Once at the top of the stairs, I led Bakura to his room. He stumbled over his own feet; almost dragging me down with him. Thankfully, I had good balance and didn't land on my face. He muttered an apology as we continued to his room. I turned the knob and pushed it open. Bakura's room was pretty trashed compared to the first time I'd been in it. It wasn't a dump, but there was still some trash lying around and items that used to be on shelves were now scattered on the floor. Bakura pushed himself away from me and stumbled to the bed. He sat down, before flopping back onto his back and putting his arms behind his head.

"Well, tonight didn't completely suck like every other night has so far…" Bakura reflected.

"Every night?" I wondered.

"Yeah, since my parents left for whatever it was. I don't even remember."

I decided not to answer him on that one. "Why has it sucked? You've had the whole place to yourself."

"You know how I don't like that." Bakura stated. "Being alone, and them not even thinking of me when they're gone…"

"Just because they never bring you back something…"

He laughed loudly once. "Oh, Marik, you're hilarious." He forced himself to sit; dangling his arms between his legs. "That's not why I don't think that they think about me."

"And why do you think that?"

"They never pick up when I call, even if its night time for them or early morning before they should even go to work, and they never call me to check in either." Bakura sighed. "I don't want to be coddled, but a little acknowledgement that they actually give two shits about me would be nice, you know?"

"Yeah…" I'd kill to hear that my father does-somewhere in the blackened, alcohol-hazed heart of his-care about my siblings and me.

Bakura sighed before snorting. He looked away. "Listen to me, complaining like a little brat." He stated. "I've got a roof over my house, and I'm not stuck in the system, or living in some shack with someone who doesn't even know I'm there. There are kids in foster care in worse conditions then me…this would be _heaven_ to them…"

I cocked an eyebrow. "Hey, Bakura…?"

"I'm pathetic, I know…what?" He stopped his rant midsentence once he heard me.

"I was just kind of wondering something…since you bring this up…?"

"I'm not telling you about my past and what I went through. You know too much, already…"

"No, not that." I took a step closer to the silverette. "I was just wondering…when you're older…did you ever consider being a foster parent yourself? You know, to help other kids who are in your situation find a good place to stay?"

Bakura blinked emerald eyes at me. "Yeah, I guess I would consider it." He shrugged. "Not that I want kids, though…because I don't."

"Well not _now_, obviously. You're not eighteen, so you can't adopt or foster anything."

Bakura laughed at me. "Oh, Marik." He stated. "You're…quite the character when you want to be."

"Look who's talking, Mr. 'Let's flood the gym a second time just because Marik suggested it and we have no other ideas'."

He stuck his tongue out at me for a moment, before realizing what he was doing and retracting it quickly. "Tell anyone about that, and I'll throw you in the flooded gym."

I laughed at him. "I won't tell anyone."

"Not even Ryou?"

"Not even Ryou."

"Promise?"

"Sure."

"How can I believe you?"

I offered him my pinky. He gave me a strange look that said 'really'.

"Come on, man, this stuff is legit." I stated, with a serious tone of voice and face. "You can't break this shit."

He didn't respond for a moment before he burst into laughter and fell backwards on the bed. "My god, you're such a dork!" He complained through his laughter.

I put my pinky down. "Sheesh, don't be a dick about it…I was trying to prove myself here…"

"Haha, I believe you, Marik, okay?" He wondered. "You have no reason to lie to me." He wiped away tears that were forming from his laughing too hard at me.

"N-No, I don't…"

He gave me a look. "Why the stutter?"

"I didn't stutter."

"Marik…you're not hiding something from me, are you?" He wondered, sitting up to be at eye level with me.

"No, of course not." I stated. "Always real between us, right? You don't lie to me, I don't lie to you. Plain and simple."

He cocked an eyebrow. "I'm…beginning to wonder about you, Marik…"

"Wonder about me?"

"There's something you're not telling me. I can tell because you're red as a tomato."

I flushed darker.

"See what I mean?" He sighed. "I'm going to the bathroom." He stood. "Think about whether you want to tell me what you're hiding or not while I'm gone, okay?" He pat me on the back before ambling out into the hall.

Once he was gone, I groaned and flopped down on my back. How could I tell him my biggest secret? The secret I was terrified of him finding out, but yet wanted him to know so badly? Just so I could have some closure, if anything. The only thing stopping me was my fear that my telling him how I really, truly, deeply felt about him would make him not want to be friends with me…or even be around me. Two sides of my heart were waging war inside me, and I didn't know which one was going to win. Logic that told me to hold back? Or my heart that told me to move onward? It's not like he'd _tell_ anyone, right? And he didn't care if people were gay or not, which he had told me. So why should I let my fears that it would bother him get in the way of me maybe being happy for once? He liked being my friend and spending time with me, that was for sure, and he did seem to trust me a lot…but maybe all he wanted to be was friends. I didn't want my heart broken, and I didn't want to push him away. Maybe keeping my secret a secret from him was a good idea. At least until the punishment was over, so then it wouldn't matter if he didn't want to be seen with me again after that. Though he did seem to be okay with Yami and Ryou being together, would it change when another man's feelings were directed at _him_ instead? It was possible, after all. I didn't want to go back to the way it was. I liked things this way. I had friends, a crush who liked me at least as a friend, my best friend and I were best friends again, as if the whole thing with my dad had never happened. What more could I want…? Other then to feel Bakura's soft-looking lips pressed against mine as I revealed my biggest secret to him…

The sound of flushing snapped me from my thoughts. If I was going to tell him, it was now or never. But what would win? My logical mind, or my hormonal heart?

Bakura walked back into his room, stumbling a bit, and shut his bedroom door. He plopped down next to me, making the bed move, and put a hand on my chest to stop me from getting up.

"Did you think about it?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"You're not going to like it." I stated. "I can't tell you, Bakura, no matter how much I want to. I'm sorry."

"You want to, but you can't? Something big, then, is it?"

"You…you could say that…" I looked away. "You won't want to hang out with me if you know, so I'll just wait until this punishment thing is over…"

"Is it really a punishment anymore? We get along, now, don't we?"

I nodded. "We do."

"So why not just tell me now?"

"You'll hate me."

"I won't."

"You will."

"I won't." He offered me his pinky. "Legit, right?"

I snorted. "Dork…"

"Hey, it was good enough when you wanted to do it."

"Yeah, good enough for me, but not you." I stuck my tongue at him. "You called me a dork, too."

"So you use my insult back at me? Not very creative."

I laughed.

"But seriously, I won't hate you for it. I can't hate you…"

"You can't?" I wondered.

He shook his head. "Nope."

"W-Why not?"

"I'm not telling until you tell me your little secret, Marik."

I sighed and looked away. "Are you _sure_ you won't hate me?"

"I'm sure." He nodded. "I may be drunk, but I'm very sure, Marik."

I sighed before looking back at him. His emerald eyes sparkled with question and wonder beyond that of a typical drunk.

"There's…there's two things…one I can tell you now…"

"Sure."

"My father…he…"

"Yes?"

"He made a threat against you." I bit my lip and looked away.

"Against me?"

"He got mad that I was hanging with you and didn't come home on time. He called you my boyfriend and blamed you for everything. He said you weren't a good friend because you weren't there to help when he was beating me…I told him to leave you out of this, and I used your first name, and he threatened to hurt you." I looked back at him, to see that he was confused as hell. 'He's also mad about you beating up his friend…Bakura, believe me, I never wanted to drag you into this bullshit. I don't want to see you hurt. I didn't tell you because I was afraid you'd go in for a confrontation, and I don't know what he can do to you. You've seen how he treats Ishizu, and what he did to me. He might be worse on you because you're not his kid. I just don't want you to get hurt. I promise, I won't let him touch you, but…"

Bakura put a finger on my lips and the words faded away. "Marik, I'm honored that you would try and protect me like that, but you'd get yourself killed if you went up against your old man, and you know it." He stated with a small smile. "But trust me, I can handle myself. he's just a drunk. I can handle that. You saw how I handled his friend, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but…"

"No buts."

I didn't bother to fight him again on that one. "Look, Bakura…I should've told you sooner but…"

"I'm touched that you were trying to protect me, but I'm not the one who needs protecting." He winked.

I frowned. "I…yeah…"

He smirked and pulled his finger away from my lips finally. I resisted the urge to kiss it before he could do so.

"You can't tell me the second one now?"

"No…I'm…I'm not ready to…"

"Why not?"

"You'll hate me…"

"Damn it, Marik!" He cursed, standing up. "I _told_ you that I won't hate you for it. You can tell me whatever it is, and I won't get mad. And don't give me some _bullshit_ reason why you can't tell me."

"It's not exactly easy for me to say, alright?" I snapped, standing up. "Only Ryou and my siblings know. That's how much of a secret this is. I have to be completely comfortable in order to tell you this, okay? And I'm just _not_ ready!"

"And when will you be, hm?" He folded his arms and began pacing. "Never, right? This is something the four of you know that you're too afraid to tell me."

"Because they're my siblings and Ryou's my best friend. I could trust that they wouldn't go off on me for it."

"And you can't trust me to not do the same?"

"I don't know if I can." I looked away. "I want to, but this is a pretty big secret for me, okay? I never told anyone beyond them because I _couldn't_, don't you _get_ it?"

"No, I don't!" Bakura glared at me. "I'm not keeping anything from you. I've been _completely_ honest and upfront since the beginning. But now it seems you've been hiding two secrets from me? I get it if you don't trust me, and I don't blame you, but I'm _not_ going to hate you, Marik. There's _no reason_ to! Don't _you_ get it?!"

"Fine! You want the truth!? Here it is!" I said before I could stop myself. "I'm _gay_, alright?! There, happy?"

Bakura blinked at me. "That's…that's it?" He didn't speak for a moment before he started laughing.

"It's not funny, asshole!" I informed, blushing and crossing my arms over his chest.

"Marik, Yami is one of my _best friends_ and he's gay, and dating _your best friend_. If I had a problem with homosexuality, I wouldn't have asked them both to come over here. My god, I told you before that I don't care if someone's gay or not. If they treat me alright, I'll treat them alright. You already knew this, so why think I would _hate_ you for it? I don't feel any differently about you, knowing you're gay, as when I had assumed you were straight. And…I apologize for the assumption…"

"No, d-don't…so…it really doesn't bother you? I mean, I'm sleeping over here, so I thought maybe…"

"I don't really care."

"O-Oh…I mean, I'm s-sleeping on the c-couch anyway, so it shouldn't really matter…right…?" I laughed nervously.

"Is there anything else?" Bakura wondered. "Just out of curiosity?"

I paused. Did I dare tell him the whole truth…? "No, that's it." I stated, looking away. "That's all I wanted to say."

"Okay."

I didn't say anything as I heard Bakura moving around. He was probably pacing again, so I thought nothing of it. That is, until I felt arms wrap around me and turned to look. Bakura was…hugging me? No, this had to be another sick fantasy my mind created.

"B-Bakura…?" I wondered cautiously.

"I can't believe you thought I'd be hate you over _that_. I mean, come on, give me _some_ credit." He laughed.

"Well…I…er…"

"Honestly, though, I did have my suspicions." Bakura shrugged. "I'm glad you told me, though."

"So am I…it feels a lot better getting that off of my chest…" I smiled softly.

Ah, hell, this wasn't real, right?

"B-Bakura…?"

"Yes?"

"There is…one more…thing…"

"What?"

"I…er…"

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "Marik?"

I looked away for a moment to collect myself before grabbing his face in both of my hands. "I'm in love with you, Bakura." I pulled him close and pressed our lips together.

I felt him stiffen against me; his soft lips unmoving. Well, it was just a fantasy, right? No need in holding back. I snaked my tongue along his bottom lip and felt his part a little. My eyes slid closed as our tongues met in a dance between our mouths. God, this was too good to be fake…he was so…I could feel his soft lips, taste the mint and alcohol on his breath…I felt fingers dig into my sides and arms pull me closer to him. I moaned lightly into the kiss as I felt his fingers press me even closer against him. The friction between the two of us felt so real; so hot. I threaded my fingers into his long silver hair and pulled him even closer to my mouth. Our teeth clacked together as a noise escaped from his mouth. I lightly opened my eyes to see that his were shut, but he didn't look like he wasn't enjoying it. Yup, this had to have been another fantasy of mine. No way would Bakura have allowed this to start, let alone how far it was going. He would have pushed me away, cursed at me, spit and wiped off his mouth with the back of his hand. He would have told me to take my things, get on my motorcycle, and take off. He wouldn't have let me kiss him like this. Wouldn't be…walking me backwards?

I felt my knees hit the bed and I fell back onto it, with Bakura on top of me. What a fantasy…it all felt…too…real…

I felt one of Bakura's hands pull my knee up to rest against his side, and the other pressed me down against the mattress. I let my body respond automatically and rolled my hips upward. They connected with Bakura's and we both moaned into our kiss. The hand on my shoulder threaded through my hair and gave it a light tug. That same hand then moved to cup my cheek as Bakura's tongue won our duel and he rubbed it against the muscle on the underside of my tongue.

The hand on my leg lazily made its way back to my belt line. He pulled my shirt up a bit and slid its way up my chest. I arched against the offending appendage as his fingers tickled over my left nipple. I gave another moan before he pulled away from me a little bit. There was a small gap between the two of us, and I could feel him breathe. What a fantasy this was…I really needed help. Bakura pushed away from me quickly and backed up, covering his mouth with his hands. "W-We…y-you…k-kissed…" He stuttered.

I was quickly pulled out of my hormone induced daze. I sat up quickly, feeling blood rushing to my head. I was flushed dark red. "I…I'm s-sorry…I…" I didn't know what to say.

Bakura looked as attractive as ever; his hair a mess from our antics and his breathing labored. "So…that…that happened?" I wondered. "It…it wasn't just a fantasy…" I covered my mouth with my left hand, while using my right hand to push my hair back and brush it. "Oh Ra…I…Bakura, I'm so…so sorry…I…"

He didn't say anything, just stared at me.

"I…I told you you'd hate me if I told you the truth…" I darted from the room.

He tried to grab me before I could leave. "Marik!" He called after me.

I didn't really care. Ra, there was no _way_ I had just told Bakura I was gay, revealed that I was in love with him, and then _made out_ with him. In love…I told Bakura I was _in love_ with him! I'd never been so mortified in my life!


	23. I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore

Dlbn: Hey everyone! Sorry for the late (and short) update, but it's been hectic lately.

Nbld: Boyfriend and I got back together, so no more emo-ness on my end. And he's got a new home now (which is right near me!) so we were moving his stuff and doing other necessary stuff for the last week.

Dlbn: But now that it's all cleared up, we're ready to roll! This update would be longer, but the next chapter, we have to find a way to edit it to meet Fanfic's standards, so it may take a few days to do so…

Nbld: But enough of our crap. Let's get onto our favorite part! The Review Corner! Thank you to DreamRain50, AnonymousGuest, xXAnachronIsmEpsIceXx, Pharaoh Silver, yugiohfan9, NightWitch1312, Enchanting Fujin, SeptemberBloom, OtEpShAmAyA, impurepet, Dynamite and Soup, animelvr16, Preussan, VampirePrinssess, myfeels, CatSrii, Ssennotta, and ALittleTreecko for reviewing! Cake and candy for you all!

DreamRain50: I assume this is a good thing? XD Marik will come up with all kinds of excuses for how he _had_ to have been imagining that XD Tictacs are good. I haven't had them in a while, though. Aw thank you, that means a lot :3 Next chapter coming up!

AnonymousGuest: Aw thanks :3 Next chapter is a-coming! XD

xXAnachronIsmEpsIceXx: Hehe sowwie -gives you a piece of cake- It's most likely an FF issue, actually. It acts up sometimes, after all. Yeah, Marik really needs to grow a pair and GTFO his father's house…

Pharaoh Silver: Poor Bakura has been hugged speechless XD Wait, never mind, Fluffy is okay :3

Yugiohfan9: Glad you liked :D Heh sorry about the cliffhanger. I couldn't resist ^^"

NightWitch1312: OMR is now what I say instead of OMG, just letting you know XD That was awesome :D Glad you like :D Yeah, a real big hurdle, indeed ;) *pokes you* You okay…? D:

Enchanting Fujin: I've been there, trust me XD *starts singing "Blame it on the alcohol"* XD Yeah, we can pretty much blame his little snafu there on the booze. It would be my excuse if I were him ;) I'm the cuddly/flirty type of drunk myself. Though I've never been drunk enough to be considered drunk, just buzzed, I guess. (I only drink one drink at a time, and it's always the same thing cause everything else makes me gag and throw up in my mouth a lil XD) But anyway, Bakura's only a social drinker, if that. I don't think he'd drink too much with Marik around; knowing about his father and all. Thanks! I hate leaving cliffhangers, but sometimes it can't be helped ;)

SeptemberBloom: Aw, you're not a bad fan -hugs- and welcome back :3 For the life of me, I can't remember where that's from D: This time it was Marik himself who ruined his smexy times, not a fantasy moment ;) Haha no worries, it's all good. He doesn't eat sweets XD Aw, sorry you were sick. Are you feeling better, I hope? D'aw sowwie :3 Writing and angst Ninja? I love it :D No need to worry about reviewing. ^^ Any reviews are appreciated, but I know things get in the way sometimes (trust me, this past month was hell). Aw, thanks, I'm flattered ^/^ Bakura needs to get his act together, and Marik needs to stop freaking out like a little horny schoolgirl who's crush says hi to her in the halls between classes XD Weirdness is always welcome…and definitely encouraged :D Aw, thank you. *noms* It was yummy. He says thank you as well (though he doesn't eat sweets. More cake for me! XD) ^/^

OtEpShAmAyA: yup, they kissed for real. It wasn't a fantasy © Marik Ishtar. XD Glad you're enjoying! More is coming up soon! :D

Impurepet: That's a lot of 'Kya' :D Hope it wasn't the bad kind of heart stopping. Cause that wouldn't be good hehe. I think you've said it before. Luv you too :D

Dynamite and Soup: Aw, glad you liked :D Bakura had everyone fooled. Even his crush XD …who had a crush on him but tried to keep it secret and failed…wow, they're really screwed up, aren't they? XD

Animelvr16: Glad you liked! Next chapter coming up!

Preussan: At least your mom only *thinks* you're crazy. My mom knows I am XD But that is exactly what Marik needs to do. After all, he's the one in love with Bakura…Aw thanks :3 next chapter coming!

VampirePrinssess: I was freaking when writing it, to be honest. I'm like 'this has _got_ to be a very special moment here. Must make it special. Must. Must. Must.' XD Someone very close to me ahs felt the same way about their parents. If you ask them, they claim they 'have no family'. Which is sad, cause their uncle called me to make sure they were okay when they were going through a tough time…but I digress. Sorry you guys have been there -hugs- Things always get hard at times. But if there's one thing I've learned this past month, it's that the hard and dark moments always give away to light and easy ones ^^

Myfeels: Please don't be dead D: Glad you enjoyed :D Next chapter is on its way!

CatSrii: More on the way :)

Ssennotta: yeah, it really is about damn time he made a move XD Marik accepts the challenge ;)

ALittleTreecko: Glad you like! And thank you :3 Update coming up!

Disclaimer: I do Not own Marik, Bakura, or anyone/anything else from YuGiOh. They belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of writing this work of fiction!

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to the birthday of a very good friends of mine. We've been BFFs since Kindergarten (though there were times we didn't speak for a period of time) but she's always been there for me, just like I'll always be there for her. She's always around to talk to and always has great advice. We need to hang again sometime. So happy birthday to my fellow writer, Chayar1991!

000

I quickly slipped into my shoes and grabbed my jacket to slip on. My overnight bag still sat by the door where I'd dropped it, so I'd get that last. But my mind wasn't thinking about that as I rushed to get my shit and get _out_ of Bakura's home. I kissed him…I confessed my love to Bakura and _kissed him_! There was _no way_ he'd let me live after doing that! Sure, he seemed into the kiss, but he was probably just reacting. It wasn't like he could have any type of romantic notion towards me, could it?

"Marik!" I heard Bakura call. "Wait!"

He didn't sound like he was angry. He sounded more hurried then anything. I didn't bother turning to look at him as I heard him racing down the stairs. I struggled into my jacket and made a line for the door, but he lunged and grabbed me to stop me from leaving.

"Marik, don't leave!" He begged.

"I'm sorry, Bakura, I shouldn't have done that…" My hand stopped inches from grabbing the doorknob. "It was a stupid move, and I'm sorry…I know there's no way you could ever feel that way for me, so it was just stupid. I fooled myself into thinking we could have a chance, and I made a move, and now you probably hate me…"

"Hate you?" He wondered. "I kissed you _back_, Marik. I had you pinned under me _on my bed_ and _made out _with you. Why the hell would you think I hated you?"

My hand fell from midair. "So…I didn't imagine that reply from you…?"

"Why would you think you imagined it?"

"Because I…well…er…"

He chuckled at my nervousness. "Marik? Turn around and look at me."

I shook my head. "No…"

"Please, Marik?"

I sighed and gathered my courage to do as he asked. I finally turned in his loosened grip, eyes closed, to face him. I felt his left hand gently caress my left cheek and I willed my eyes to open. His brown eyes met my own lilac ones. I flushed as my not-so-secret-anymore-crush's eyes bore into mine and tried to look away.

"Look…you know I have no problem with someone being gay, right? I told you that." He spoke calmly to me. So why would I be mad at you for telling me how you feel about me?"

"Because….you can be okay with people being gay, but it's something different then they have crushes on you…so…"

Bakura chuckled. "Don't think too much about it, alright?"

I opened my mouth to protest, but the look on his face made me stop. "Okay…"

He grinned. "Now…"

Before I could react, his lips were pressed to mine again. My eyes widened in surprise as he pushed me roughly against the front door and pinned me there; holding my hands up over my head in one hand while exploring my side with his other hand. I moaned into the kiss and arched against him before he pulled away and grinned at me.

"I think you understand what I'm trying to say to you, right?"

I nodded numbly. So…Bakura didn't mind?

"And I mean…?"

"You…er…have….feel the same…way for me…?"

Bakura smiled softly. "Mm hm."

I blushed and fought my jaw to stop it from falling on me in surprise. "B-But how? You said you're not gay…"

"I've said a lot of things, not all of them true." Bakura admitted. "I only said I didn't want false rumors about being gay to ruin my image, because of stereotypes."

"Well…yeah, but…so you're gay." I stated. "Definitely gay, not swinging back and forth or fucking with me?"

"That last option doesn't sound too bad…"

I flushed cherry red. "B-Bakura…Y-You're just drunk…"

"And you're cute. So what do we do about this?"

I blinked. "Yeah, you're definitely drunk." I laughed at him. "Perhaps we should wait until tomorrow to find a solution?"

"Why put off til tomorrow what you can do today, at this very moment, hm?" He ran a hand to my backside and gave it a light squeeze.

I jumped and squealed lightly. "B-Bakura!"

"What?"

"You can't just…"

"Just what?" He leaned a little closer and pulled me closer by my backside.

I squeaked as he pressed me flush against him and I felt something hard rub against the inside of my leg. I blushed darkly.

"B-Bakura…you're…"

"One horny bastard?" Bakura laughed. "Yes, I believe I am. Perhaps we should sole this issue, hm?"

"T-Too much booze…you won't remember tomorrow…"

He captured my lips in his to silence me mid-sentence. It was sweet, though a tiny bit rude. I didn't really care, though, as I kissed back and entwined my fingers in his silver-white hair. He moaned slightly when I tugged his hair a little on accident. A moan escaped my mouth into his as his lips spread to press a soft tongue through my lips. Out tongues wrestled as he pinned me against the door to keep me from moving. He pulled my hands up over my head and pinned them to the door with one hand; the other slipping under my shirt and up towards my nipples. I moaned and lifted my left leg to brush against his side. The hand holding my wrists went down to grab my leg and steady me as my foot hooked to the small of his back. My hands went back into his hair and pulled lightly. Our tongues wrestled for dominance as I had to fight my right knee to keep it from giving out. Bakura's fingers began tweaking at my left nipple, making me moan into his mouth. How had he found my sweet spot so easily? At least he hadn't found the other one; my ear. Bakura smirked against my mouth and pressed harder against me. The hardened appendage against the inside of my leg pressed harder against me, making me moan as I angled myself to make his hardness rub against my own painful erection. Both of us moaned loudly into one another's mouths when we came into contact. Using my hands in his hair, I yanked Bakura back. The other's tongue slithered back into his mouth as I did so. They two of us stood there panting and put our foreheads together.

"Upstairs?" Bakura whispered, once he gained back some breath.

"Sounds good."

We detached ourselves and he grabbed me by the wrist to drag me upstairs to his bedroom.


	24. Sexy Back

Dlbn: Hey everyone! Sorry about the delay, but life is a bitch and got in the way as per usual. Not to mention that we had to figure out how to edit this to 's standards to avoid being deleted. We decided to just write it as clean as possible and hope for the best.

Nbld: And we did a few edits, so it may look a little funny, but we did our best. So, let's get on to the Review Corner! Thank you to AnonymousGuest, impurepet, xXAnachronIsmEpsIceXx, Nightwitch1312, VampirePrinssess, yugiohfan9, Pharaoh Silver, SilverBakura86, OtEpShAmAyA, Lovely Thief, animelvr16, SailorDeathMoon, Theperson, and anonynonymous for reviewing! Tissues for nosebleeds and candy for you all! *hands some out*

For reviewing chapter 22, thank you to Ssennotta and Ren-Li for reviewing! Candy and tissues for you both as well :D

AnonymousGuest: *Hands you some tissues* Maybe ;)

Impurepet: I'm glad you enjoyed that much :3 I was a little iffy about leaving it there, but it had to be done that way ^^" all the same back to you :3

xXAnachronIsmEpsIceXx: It…is most likely heading where you think its heading ;) I'm comfortable writing it, but I know fanfic was on a kick for a while where fics with chapters/parts that were too 'pornographic' were removed, so I don't want to risk getting this fic removed as well. Haha either works XD But it's not really him causing problems right now, it's my parents XD

NightWitch1312: Wouldn't you get sick of it after 10 times? O.o Glad you liked! :D Marik's not good at putting one and one together to get fish, is he? XD Haha that's awesome :D I said it once and my friend looked at me like 'wtf?' lol

VampirePrinssess: More coming up :D I don't know why, but the whole 'pin him against a wall' thing seems to come up a lot in fics and romance stories. Odd XD No, Bakura's not just drunk. Sure, that's half of it, but not all of it ;)

Yugiohfan9: Thanks! :D Obviously Marik couldn't even figure it out XD Thiefshipping makes me really happy too, for some reason XD

Pharaoh Silver: He's half drunk at this point, I think. The kiss from Marik probably shocked him out of drunkenness XD Fluffy, don't kill Silver! -slaps Fluffy on the nose with a newspaper- Bold boy!

SilverBakura86: It's a half-lemon, since I had to edit it to prevent being deleted XD Looks like it takes a little bit of booze and a kiss from Marik to get Bakura to open up and admit things XD I was originally going to have a completely different scenario for the big reveal, but I liked this version better ^^ Let the smexy time commence!

OtEpShAmAyA: Don't fall off XD Drunk Bakura is an interesting person. But at least he finally got the guts to admit how he felt to Marik.

Lovely Thief: Aw thank you! I appreciate that :3 Actually, it was a mix of YGTAS, inside jokes with my best friend, and Thiefshipping AMVs on YouTube to inspire me to write a fic surrounding it. When I started, I didn't have much of an idea of what to do, but once I started, I just kept going ^^

Animelvr16: Thanks. I'm glad you liked :3

SailorDeathMoon: Welcome back! Aw, thanks, I appreciate that :3 The confession was originally much shorter, but I like the newer version better. Aw thanks, I appreciate that. the small details are sometimes the most important ones ;)

Theperson: Aw thank you! Glad to hear you enjoy it!

Anonynonymous: Thank you! I'm glad you like! I thought about doing a sequel, but I have no idea where it would go ^^" Maybe I'll think of one eventually. Or maybe just a side story…?

(Chapter 22)

Ssennotta: When did he forget it? D:

Ren-Li: Welcome! :D Wow, you must've been up a long while to do that ;) Aw, thank you! I appreciate it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Marik and Bakura and the YuGiOh franchise belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of this fic!

Warning: Hey, everyoen! Thought I would take the time here and put in what FeathersAndFeathers22 suggested, adn leave a warning about this chapter! This chapter is rated "M FOR MATURE" so anyone who doesn't want to read this should be aware of what is to come in this chapter. Sorry for not putting this in originally, everyone!

000

I barely thought anything as Bakura led me upstairs and pushed me down to sit on his bed. I blinked up at him and waited for him to do something. He simply looked me over, holding his chin in his hand. His other hand rested in a fist on his hip.

"W-what?" I wondered, sitting there and staring up at him, confused.

Bakura smirked. "Just thinking of something." He replied bluntly.

"Yeah, I figured that. But of what?"

"You." He smirked. "And the things I'm going to do to you." He moved closer and I scrambled back. "Why so skittish now, Marik?"

"N-No reason…um…'Kura…you're drunk…"

"And?"

"I'm not sure you're aware of what you're doing."

He seemed to take offense as he got on his knees on the bed and sat at the foot of it. "What makes you so sure that I am not in complete control of my mind and body at this point?" He wondered, cocking his head to the side. "As you can tell, I really am in the mood…unless you're not?"

"N-No! I mean, I'm not, not in the mood…I mean…I'm in the mood, don't get me wrong." I flustered. "God, I've only dreamt about this since I freaking _met_ you. Of course I want to be with you like that…" I saw the smirk on his face and swallowed hard. "But I just want to make sure you really want to. I don't want you to sober up in the morning and completely regret everything we do, I mean…"

I was stopped short as he crawled up the bed to loom over me. I slumped down on the bed against the pillows. He smirked and leaned down so our noses were almost touching; his white-silver hair falling around both of us like a curtain of clouds.

"B-Bakura…?" I wondered.

"Shut up." Bakura leaned down and pressed our lips together.

I pressed my lips back to his with a little more force as I practically arched off the bed to press my whole body against him. He pushed me back down on the bed with one hand on my left shoulder and pressed his lower half down into mine. I moaned loudly as stars exploded behind my eyes at the contact. Damn, I never would have thought it would feel _this_ good to get it on with Bakura. I had always assumed it would be fantastic, but this was nothing like I could have dreamed. There was no word in the Japanese or Egyptian languages to describe it. I heard Bakura moan and mutter something along the lines of 'oh shit' at the contact as well. Yeah, oh shit was a good way to describe it until I could come up with the correct terms for such feelings of ecstasy. I felt like I was going to lose it when Bakura began gently nibbling on my lower lip. His fingers began dancing up underneath my shirt and across my stomach. I moaned and put a hand on the back of his neck to pull him closer. His nimble fingers trailed up my stomach towards my nipple. He lightly pinched the left one as he ran his tongue over my bottom lip. It was all I could do to not just rip his clothes off right then and there. My right hand acted on its own free will and slid down his chest until I reached the bottom of his shirt. I pushed it up enough to slide my hand under there and dig my nails into his lower back. He moaned and pulled away from our kiss.

"D-Damn…" He muttered.

"Sorry…" I responded softly, looking away as we both blushed.

"No, it's fine…just didn't know you knew how to do that…" He smirked at me. "I kind of like it…"

"Really?" I trailed my nails down his back to his jeans waistline, making him moan again.

He pulled me into another mouth-searing kiss. His fingers danced across my nipples and down my sides to the hem of my shirt. He lifted it up a little towards my head. Somehow knowing what he wanted, I pulled away from the kiss and let him lift my shirt up and over my head. The cool air in the room hit my warm chest and made me shiver slightly. Bakura chuckled at me as he leaned down and kissed my neck. He suckled lightly on the flesh there as I tangled my fingers in his hair again. "B…Bakura…!" I moaned.

He pulled away and lifted his own shirt over his head. "What, did you enjoy that, Marik?" he wondered. "Because I can do it again."

"I'd be offended if you wouldn't do it again…" I flushed and looked away.

He took my chin in his hand and pulled it back to face him. "Would you now?" he wondered. "Come on, Marik, that side of my room can't be nearly as fascinating as what's going on between you and I right now, can it?" He winked at me.

"O-Of course not." I smiled softly at him.

He smiled back before pulling me into a kiss and nudging at my lower lip with his tongue. I parted my lips and met his tongue halfway. As our tongues fought for control, he brought his left hand to my belt and snapped the buckle open. Once it was open, he unzipped my jeans and began nibbling on my lower lip as our tongues separated and went back into our mouths. I moaned as I arched against him; making him moan back as our hips contacted. I felt a little bulge in his jeans and moaned again. Damn, it felt so good! As he wasn't really paying attention to me, I undid his belt and jeans' zipper as well. He finally seemed to notice what I was doing and grabbed me by the belt, pulling me jeans downwards towards my knees. I shifted a little so the jeans could move down around my entire waist, not just at the front. Once he finally had my jeans off, he went to work on his own. I beat him to the punch and pulled his jeans down to his ankles. He kicked them off and threw them to the ground with our shirts and my jeans. Clad only in boxers and socks, I couldn't help but feel a little self conscious. I had scars, bruises, and other injuries on me from my father's abuse. I didn't really want people seeing them, which was why I waited until it was only Ryou and me in the locker room to change for gym. I'd hide out in a bathroom stall until everyone was gone, and Ryou would come get me so I could change with him without anyone making up rumors. Although someone had seen it once and started something, but that had faded out quickly because no one really cared about what we were up to. I had a feeling that Bakura might have had something to do with it, if he had liked me for longer then I thought.

My thoughts of the injuries went away when I felt Bakura's fingers trail along one of the scars. It tickled a little, so I involuntarily giggled. We separated and Bakura gave me an odd look.

"What's so funny?"

"That tickled…"

He rolled his eyes. "You are such a child sometimes, Marik." He stated. "Sheesh, grow up a tiny bit, would you?"

"I am grown up….look what I'm about to do with you, hm?" I licked my bottom lip out of nervousness.

He chuckled at me. "I suppose that's a fair statement." He kissed me softly as his hand trailed to the elastic waistline of my boxers.

I felt my breath hitch against his lips as his fingers brushed against the sensitive skin of my stomach. His fingers lightly slid down between my legs and gently pressed against me, making me moan and arch against him. He seemed to like my reaction and did again before moving his hand to cup me fully through my boxers. I moaned and contacted our hips, making his head snap back as he growled to keep himself from crying out.

"What's the matter, Bakura?" I wondered. "Too much for you to handle?"

"S-Shut up!" Bakura growled. He pressed my hips back down to the bed with his own hips and gripped the waistline of my boxers between his fingers. He pulled them down a little, exposing more and more of my lower half to him until I was completely free of the cotton constraints. I breathed a sigh of relief as cool air hit my lower half, as my erection lightly bobbed in the air once from being released. Bakura chuckled and gripped my length in his hand without even warning me. I squeaked as his hand began sliding nimbly up and down the shaft. The faster his hand began to move, the more I moaned. God, nothing I had ever managed to do on my own had felt this good! Bakura really was sent from heaven…or hell, whichever place suited him better. Probably hell, but right now, he felt like heaven to me. I had waited so long for this, and I hoped and prayed with every fiber of my being to Ra that this wasn't just a wet dream; that I was really about to lose my virginity to the one guy I'd wanted above anyone and everyone else I'd met in the world. There was no way in Ra's name that this could be wrong. There was nothing on my mind besides what was happening between the two of us. The issues with my father and Ryou's formerly secret love for me and current love affair with Yami weren't even there in the back of my mind; locked away in my subconscious so I could enjoy myself completely in that moment.

I felt a slight weight shift in my groin and moaned Bakura's name loudly.

"B-B-Bakura-a-a….!" I moaned, tossing my head back as I came in his hand.

He smirked at me and let his hand slowly come to a stop at the base of my still hard length. I panted heavily as he kissed a trail down my neck and chest to my nipples. Lightly teasing me, he took a nipple into his mouth and flicked hit tongue against the bud. I moaned and tangled my fingers in his hair again. He seemed to like it when my fingers lightly tugged at him as he moaned against my flesh. Bakura pulled away from me and out of my grip as he kissed a trail further down my body. My hips twitched a little-to which he responded by holding down my hips with his other hand. His skilled tongue slipped into my belly button once before he continued his trail of kisses down my inner left thigh. I moaned and shuddered as his mouth drew closer and closer to the one place I wanted him to touch me more then anywhere else. He finally obliged, quickly taking my tip into his mouth before bobbing up and down on the length. I moaned.

"Bakura…yes…don't stop…oh, Bakura…!" I moaned his name, thrusting my hips up a little each time.

Before I could react, he hummed a little, and I felt myself come close to release. "Bakura…please…I-I'm close…"

He came up off of me, letting my tip fall out of his mouth with a small 'pop' noise. He smirked up at me and wiped his mouth off before moving up and kissing me again.

Without warning, I quickly slid his boxers off of his hips to his ankles, which he then kicked off, and took his length into my hand. I began to pump up and down the shaft like he had done to me. He moaned and thrust downwards a little. "M-Marik…" He moaned. "If you keep doing that, we'll never get to the…mmm…good part…"

I chuckled a little and kissed his neck before taking the flesh into my mouth. I let go of his length at the same time as I stopped sucking on his neck. He muttered something along the lines of 'tease' before reaching over to the nightstand.

"Looking for something…?" I wondered.

"What do you think I'm looking for?" He chuckled at me.

I flushed. "You're prepared…"

He chuckled again. "Thief and Yami keep stuff here because they know my parents won't go through my stuff. It's safer then leaving stuff in their nightstands. I'm sure they won't mind if I borrow some."

I flushed. "What if Yami needs something right now…?"

"He always keeps one in his wallet just in case." Bakura said, as though he knew from experience that the other boy was prepared at all times. "We're killing the mood here…aha!" He grabbed what he needed before settling back on top of me. "Sorry about that."

Bakura popped open the top of the bottle in his left hand. I looked away a little bit, shifting only my eyes to the nightstand, as he poured some over his index and middle fingers. I took a deep breath, knowing what was coming next. He took one of my legs and hooked it against his side before doing the same with the other leg. I shifted my body a little to adjust for the new angle I was laying at. Once I was done wiggling around, Bakura brought one lubricant-coated finger to my entrance and rubbed in a circular motion before slipping it inside. I moaned at the feeling of something being inside of me. I had never experimented this far before, in fear of my father discovering I was gay and having an issue with it. Father walking in on me just doing what other teens did was one thing. Father walking in on me imagining I was having sex with Bakura and stretching myself was another thing. I let the thoughts slip from my mind as I wiggled to get comfortable. Once I was done, Bakura caught my lips in another rough, passionate kiss, and began sliding his finger in and out of my body.

I moaned and entangled my fingers in his hair. It felt better then I ever could have imagined! Oh, for Ra's sake, I should've confessed to him sooner! My breath hitched when I felt another finger enter me alongside the first. He didn't give me any chance to adjust before he pumped both in and out, separating them a little bit as he did so. I moaned into our kiss, making him moan and arch his lower half downwards. We both threw our heads back at the contact and moaned. Ra, I didn't know how much more I could take before I needed something bigger…something more passionate.

"B-Bakura…I-I'm stretched enough…don't you think…?" I moaned, my breath hitching slightly.

"If you say so." He removed his fingers from me with a little 'pop' noise.

I flushed at the sound as he ripped open a condom and slid it on.

"Are you sure you want to do this now?" Bakura asked. "No more preparation?"

"No more, I'm fine."

"Alright, but just remember that you told me to stop."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm talking about."

Bakura shrugged and popped the lid on the lubricant once more. He poured a generous amount into his hand before rubbing it on his shaft. The sight left me speechless as I closed the tube and put it on the nightstand so it would be out of the way.

"Slow and gentle or fast and hard?"

"I'm a virgin…"

"Slow and gentle it is."

Bakura slowly began entering me; pausing a few seconds after beginning to push his head into my puckered entrance. Once I was comfortable enough for him to continue-even though my eyes were watering-I nodded for him to move again. He slowly began pushing more of himself into me; pausing every inch or so to give me time to adjust. Each time I would nod for him to move more, and he would oblige. When he was completely buried inside of me, he stopped to rest for a moment.

"Are you alright, Marik?" He wondered.

"I'm fine…are you…?"

"Yeah. You're just so damn…mm…tight." He stopped talking and we laid there in silence; intimately connected in a way I had only dreamed of before.

When I was finally ready for him to continue, I nodded slowly. "Y-You can move if you w-want…" I told him.

"Thank God. I don't know how much longer I would've lasted." He pulled his hips back, taking some of his length out of me, before pushing back in quickly.

I moaned as he began to thrust in and out of me. It wasn't until he began moving faster and harder inside of me that he hit a spot inside of me that made me see stars.

"B-Bakura!" I moaned. "R-Right there…harder…harder! Mmm…don't stop, Bakura!"

Bakura's nails dug into my hips as he pushed himself in and out of me. "Damn it, Marik…" He moaned. "Mm…so tight…mmm…"

I arched my back and threw my head back as I continued to see stars explode behind my closed eyes. I couldn't see anything but black and explosions of white. Every sound from Bakura was magnified as my sight was taken away so my other senses could sharpen. I felt nothing but pure bliss as the teen I had fallen in love with the moment I met pounded in and out of me at a fast, hard, steady pace. Bakura nails dug painfully into my flesh, but loosened up once he realized how hard he was gripping me. He stopped every once and a while to shift his knees to stay comfortable.

"Damn, Marik…you feel so good…" He moaned under his breath. "I'm…ugh…I'm gonna come…"

I felt a heaviness in my lower regions that was familiar from a few moments ago. "S-So am I…"

"Mm….I can't…I…_Marik_!" He cried out my name as I felt him twitch inside of me as he began to slow his pace.

The feeling of him expanding and twitching inside of me sent me over the edge. "_Bakura_!"

I spasmed as well: sending ropes of white cum onto both of our stomachs. Once we were both done, I lost the strength to keep my legs up and let them fall to the bed. Bakura quickly pulled out of me and lay down next to me. He left one arm over his eyes; leaving his chest uncovered. I lay my head on his chest and pulled him close.

"D-Damn it…" He cursed, panting.

"You can say that again." I replied, nuzzling him as I shivered.

Ra, I never would have guessed that my first time would have been that amazing. I'd heard and read horror stories about how painful and downright awful your first time could be (granted some of them were from girls and thus had no meaning to me, but whatever); so many that I was sure it would hurt like hell. But the pain quickly gave away to pleasure and added up to one amazing time. It was something I wouldn't soon forget. Especially concerning I doubted whether or not I'd be able to walk the next day. Thankfully, it was a day off and I wouldn't have to worry about school. Let alone going home to face my father, considering his business trip would probably keep him away until tomorrow.

The arm covering Bakura's eyes fell down and around me; gripping my shoulder in his hand and pulling me closer.

"Shouldn't you get rid of that before we go to sleep?" I wondered, looking sleepily down at his condom covered shaft.

He flushed and reached down. I watched him take it off and tie it in a knot before throwing it in the waste bin by the bed.

"I'll throw that bag in the big trash tomorrow." He yawned, pulling me closer still.

I looked up at him; my faces inches from his chin. "I love you…" I told him softly.

He smirked down at me and kissed my forehead. "I love you too, Marik."

I threw one of my legs over both of his and nuzzled up under his chin to sleep. He didn't seem to mind how I was sleeping, as long as I was sleeping at all. I felt his chest fall into the slow and steady pattern of sleep I'd learned was his when I slept over the day my father beat me up. I traced lazy, nonsensical patterns on his chest until my eyelids felt heavy with sleep. My hand came to a stop on his chest as my eyes slipped closed for the night and I faded into the blackness.


	25. Love Remembers

Dlbn: Welcome back everyone! Time for another chapter!

Nbld: It hasn't been as long a gap as last time, but still too long for my tastes.

Dlbn: Well, a *huge* bit of inspiration hit me today, so here we go! Another chapter! Yay!

Nbld: But first, the Review Corner! Thank you to LocoCoco300, SilverBakura86, Jem Kallop, impurepet, yugiohfan9, lil-yugioh-sonic-fan, FangsandFeathers22, OtEpShAmAyA, VampirePrinssess, AnonymousGuest, Nightwitch1312, and Ren-Li for reviewing! Pocky and Ramune for everyone! *hands it out*

Dlbn: Can you guess who went to a convention this past weekend? XD

Nbld: Oh shut up. Now, it's come to our attention that a few reviewers have asked about the same topic; why sue the condom. The reason I had him use a condom comes from a friend of mine. He's gay, and he says that it's for protection from germs and stuff like that. ^^ I thought I'd just put it here for everyone who didn't review to read as well :D

LocoCoco300: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed!

SilverBakura86: Glad you enjoyed that chapter :D and Haha your mom was probably like "what in the name of Ra…?" XD Well, he was drunk, so I guess he wasn't thinking about certain things. I see it written in yaoi Fanfics a lot where that line is used. I don't get it either, but whatever XD Yami's just a horny little bastard who wants to be ready to screw Ryou's brains out at a moment's notice XD Oh, this is definitely NOT the end. More, more, and even more yet to come! :D

Jem Kallop: Welcome to having an account :D Glad you enjoyed! :D Haha I liked writing those parts, myself ^^

Impurepet: Sorry about the long absence ^^" Lots of crap with the boyfriend going on. Poor guy's been through some real shit. But I digress. Anywho, next chapter, yay! I couldn't skip the chapter. I just wanted to be careful so it doesn't get the fic pulled, because I remember fanfic was on a binge of removing 'pornographic' fics for a while. But anyway, it didn't get deleted, so it's fine. Yay! :D

Yugiohfan9: Glad you enjoyed! Smexy time, yay! :D

Lil-yugioh-sonic-fan: Finally! :D Aw thanks, I really do appreciate that :D I can't give away anything as spoilers, but both of those things will come apparent very soon ^^

FangsandFeathers22: And now it's finally here! XD I can't reveal what happens yet, but it's going to be interesting ;) Thanks for the advice. I put an extra disclaimer at the beginning of the last chapter as a warning. Thanks again!

OtEpShAmAyA: Thank you :) I'm always cautious with lemons on this site, though ^^" But I just wrote it as is and left it as little pornographic as possible, and I think it came out better then writing it more and cutting stuff out ^^ Whatever Bakura's feelings are, I regret nothing! XD

VampirePrinssess: Where else would they keep them? ;) Glad you enjoyed! Thanks, Isy. I thought it was yummy as well :3

AnonymousGuest: XD!

NightWitch1312, Glad you didn't get sick of it ^^ Nope, no time jump. I toyed with that idea, but then I was like 'nope, they're gonna do it.' XD All those questions shall be answered shortly

Ren-Li: You're welcome! Thanks for reviewing :D Aw I'm glad my fic gave you some inspiration! The link didn't come through in full because of Fanfic's blocks, but I figured it was a DA picture and fixed the link on my computer. I love the pic :D Well this chapter is definitely not the ending, so…more drama? ;)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Marik or Bakura. I do not own ANYTHING from the YuGiOh franchise. They all belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of writing this fic. I only have fun.

000

When I awoke the next morning, with a slightly sore lower back and backside, I was barely aware of where I was at that point in time. I rolled over to see Bakura sprawled out on the bed, naked for my eyes to see. I flushed as the events of the night before came rushing back. So it wasn't a dream after all! I really _did_ have sex with Bakura! I was both giddy and surprised all at the same time. I still couldn't believe that Bakura had been gay all along, and had feelings for _me_ too, on top of that. It sure explained why he picked on me all the time. Weren't guys and girls notorious for picking on the people that they liked? I never got it, but hey, I did mess with Bakura a lot. Not sexually before last night, mind you, but in general I messed with his head and picked on him. But that was only in retaliation when he started things, so no one would suspect that I actually liked him. I was honored that it was me he had chosen to be with, but from how good it was the night before, I was pretty sure I wasn't his first. But he was mine, so it was all good. At least _one_ of us had lost his virginity last night. Unless it was just the booze giving him the gall to do what he did. Hopefully it hadn't been completely booze induced and it was genuine like he had claimed.

I watched Bakura sleep for a few moments before realizing that I had to sue the bathroom. Annoyed that I had to interrupt the morning after my first time, I slowly got out of bed and made my way to the bathroom. My lower back and my backside hurt like hell, but it was worth it. I walked back into Bakura's bedroom when I was done to find him sitting up. He had his knees bent up and was resting his head on them; holding onto his head with his hands and groaning as he did so. He must have woken up to a massive hangover while I was gone. I gingerly walked back to the bed and sat down on the edge of it. While blankets were covering Bakura to keep him modest, I was completely nude. But for some reason, I wasn't ashamed. I crossed my legs to hide myself, though it was pretty stupid to bother since he had seen it already the night before, and much more then that.

"Morning…" I muttered.

I knew from dealing with my hung over father that the quieter I was, the better it would be on his head when he first woke up.

"Morning." Bakura replied, a little too loudly. He winced and looked up at me.

I smiled shyly as his eyes roamed over my tanned, naked form. His eyes widened in surprise.

"W-We didn't…"

My heart fell. "But…you…I thought…" I tried to cover myself with the blanket, but he stopped me.

"Relax." Bakura replied, pulling me close to him.

My head landed on his chest and I squeaked in surprise, making him laugh.

"I'm just messing with you, Marik." He informed.

"You jerk! I really thought you were…!"

Bakura kissed the top of my head. "No, I remember everything clearly. Thank god for booze or I never would've come clean." He laughed. "Actually, thank god _you_ got pissed off and yelled your little secret at me. Though I would prefer if it had been done sooner…"

"I didn't think you were gay…" I muttered into his chest, gripping at his shoulders. "I thought you'd hate me…"

"I told you I have no problem with homosexuals, Marik." Bakura's voice was stern; as though I were a child who'd done something wrong. "Why would you think I'd hate you for it?"

"You said you had no problem with gay guys, but you just didn't want them hitting on you…"

"Yeah, well, you're the exception." Bakura stated. "I just don't like people _assuming_ shit about me, that's all."

"But in this case, they'd just be assuming the truth."

He laughed. "I guess." Then he groaned. "Ugh, my head…too much booze." He flopped back onto his bed, making me fall with him.

I put my one hand on his chest to break my fall and stared down at him. I leaned down and kissed the tip of his nose. "Sorry, love." I told him. "But I told you that you drank too much."

"And you drank not enough." He batted at me with one hand limply.

I laughed and tucked some hair behind my ear. He was so cute when he was too hung over to do anything sensible. Then again, he was cute all the time.

"Which is why _I'm_ the one who's going to remember last night in perfect detail, while you'll only remember bits and pieces."

"I remember enough."

"Such as?"

"You moaning my name." Bakura smirked. I had challenged him, and now he would rise to it. "And the look on your face when I plowed into you."

"Alright, alright." I giggled. "You remember enough, alright."

"And how good it felt to finally just be inside you and…"

"That's enough, Bakura. No one likes a smart ass."

"_You_ do."

"So?"

"You're the only one that counts." Bakura looked away from me and coughed. "I didn't just say that."

"Yes you did." I kissed his temple. "And it's adorable."

"No, it's not. It's just a statement." Bakura looked back at me. "I'm hungry. You hungry?"

"Stop changing the topic, but yes, I am." I replied. "Want me to make breakfast?"

"I can cook eggs, if you want. Since you cooked dinner for me already." Bakura shrugged.

"You can cook?"

"You sound surprised."

"And you sound offended."

"Well, you did just get surprised that I know how to cook eggs. I'm not _completely_ unable to take care of myself, you know. I had to learn how to do something other then dial a phone for food. They don't leave enough money to sustain me completely for the entire time they're gone. Though I do crash at Yami or Thief's places once and a while just so I can get a good meal."

"Well, now you have me to cook for you, so you don't have to mooch off of your friends' pantries."

Bakura laughed at that. "So I can stop mooching off of my friends' pantries, but start mooching off of my boyfriend?"

My eyes snapped open wider and I pulled back a little. "B-Boyfriend?"

"Well, we did screw each other last night. So, yeah, I thought you might agree to it…?" Bakura seemed unsure of himself for once. "Being my boyfriend, I mean, not sleeping with me."

"I-I know what you meant." I replied, smiling softly down at him. "That would…that would be heaven."

Bakura smiled and pushed himself up enough to peck at my lips once with his. "You're cheesy."

"You know you love it."

"You know what else I would love?"

"What?"

"If you do want to make breakfast, or if I do, doing so naked would be nice."

I laughed. "Sure, as long as you don't spill anything on your crotch." I looked down. "You can do wonders with that thing, so it would be a shame if you were to injure it."

He laughed and flipped us over so he was on top, and the blankets falling away to cover me instead. I felt the wind leave me as he smiled down at me and kissed the tip of my nose.

"I suppose I do have some skills with it." He agreed with me. "How about I show you just what I can do?"

"You did last night, so I already know." I smirked. "But I would like a refresher lesson."

He smirked. "That can be arranged." He leaned down and closed the gap between us to restart what would be the next best three hours of my life.

000

It wasn't really a surprise when Ryou squealed like a teenage girl at a Justin Beiber concert when he found out that Bakura and I were together finally. My best friend practically leapt across the coffee table to hug me around my neck when we told him the news. Thief and Yami weren't as excited as he was, but that was understandable. They didn't know how hard I had been crushing on Bakura, and I doubt he'd told them how he felt for me very often; if at all. Yami grabbed Ryou by the belt to hold him back so he wouldn't crush me. Bakura put a possessive arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer.

"Well…it's about damn time." Thief laughed. "Seriously, 'Kura, I thought you'd graduate without telling him how you felt."

Bakura glared. "Oh shut up. You act like I fawned over him and chewed your guys' ears off about him this whole time."

"That's because you did." Yami informed.

Bakura glared. "Like you didn't fawn over that one until you guys got together."

"You mean until he grew a pair and climbed through my window, drunk at 2 am?" Ryou cocked his head to the side.

I laughed as Yami blushed. "S-Shut up, Ryou…"

"Make me." Ryou stuck his tongue out at him.

"You asked for it." Yami stood, pinned Ryou to the chair he was sitting in, and pressed their lips together.

"Oh, get a room!" Thief complained, slapping Yami on the back with a pillow a couple times.

I laughed in response. "Jealous, Thief?" I wondered.

"No!"

"But he will be in about .2 seconds." Bakura informed. He pulled me close by the neck and kissed me.

His lips were soft against mine as our lips danced together in sync. I felt a pillow hit my back, but it didn't bother me. I knew it was Thief complaining.

"Come on, Bakura, not fair!" Thief moaned in annoyance.

Another pillow hit my back, and I hear another slap Yami. I pulled away from Bakura.

"Jealous?" I wondered. "Really? Or just grossed out?"

"If it was anyone other then my best friends making out with their boyfriends, I'd watch." Thief admitted, putting his hands up. "It's not that I'm disgusted by it, because it's nowhere near that, but it's annoying." Thief glared at Bakura. "You know how I feel, man, so that wasn't cool."

"I never said I was nice." Bakura replied, shrugging as he leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You're so uptight today." Yami informed. "We need to get you laid."

"I could've been laid a long time ago if a certain someone didn't cut me off." Thief glared in Bakura's direction.

"You know why I ended it, so don't act like it was a surprise."

"Wait a minute." I ordered, sitting straight up. "_What_?"

"Bakura and Thief used to mess around because they were both single and horny." Yami informed. "I don't think they were dating, I think it was just a sex thing."

"It _was_." Thief said. "But still, he cut it off rather abruptly."

"Why?" Ryou wondered, twirling a piece of his hair.

"Bakura wanted to settle down." Yami stated. "They were just doing it for the gratification, but Bakura wanted to be in a relationship. Neither wanted to be together because they had no feelings between them, so Bakura ended it so he could be with you."

Thief sighed and leaned back. "I have no problem ith it, but he could've at least weaned me off of it." He laughed. "As I'm sure you can attest to now, Marik, he's good."

"I wouldn't argue with that."

Ryou spit out his water. "You two…did it? Seriously? Didn't you just get together?"

"After we did it." Bakura replied. "And you're not one to talk, Ryou. I know what happened between you guys the day he confessed."

"Ryou!" I laughed at my friend's expense. "You told me you two didn't do anything."

"Yeah, we messed around a little. I told you a little light touching, but that's really all we did that day…"

"The next day, though, that was something else entirely. I heard things come out of his mouth that belong in a porno." Yami stated.

"Yami!" Ryou slapped his shoulder. "You have a big mouth."

"Not as big as yours." Yami winked at him. "But then again, it has to be big to fit my…"

Thief interrupted them quickly. "I don't need to know these things!" He informed. "New topic, please. We're off for the day, and I don't want to hear about your guy's ex lives all day."

"You know who really has to have a big mouth?" Bakura wondered.

"Bakura, don't go there." Thief warned him.

"Marik."

Thief slammed his head into his palm.

000

"Are you going to be safe going home tonight?" Bakura questioned me around 8 pm that night.

"I told you, my father won't be home for a few more days. If I go home tonight, I'll just have to deal with Ishizu being paranoid." I responded. "I'll be fine." I kissed his cheek. "Don't worry so much about me."

"With a father like yours, I have to."

I couldn't argue with that. "Yeah, I guess. But I'll be fine. Besides, he'd probably think I was at Ryou's anyway. Luckily, he doesn't know where either of you guys live, so he can't physically come here to cause problems."

"Yeah, that's a good thing." Bakura nodded, folding his arms over his chest. "But still. Any problems, either with Ishizu when you get back or your father when he gets back, you can always come back here. I'm alone, so I can make you feel better without having to worry about someone hearing." He winked.

I laughed and kissed him. "Thanks, Bakura, I needed to hear that." I smiled at him. "It sounds nice, too."

"You know it does." He pulled me close. "What do you say? One more round before you leave?"

I tugged on the lapels of the jacket he was wearing and pressed my lips to his. "I love you, Bakura."

"I love you too, Marik."

"A secret relationship. I love it." I giggled.

He chuckled and kissed my temple. "It doesn't have to be secret, you know."

"With my father and sister? Sorry, but its best to keep us a secret for now, at least."

"I can't argue with that." Bakura shook his head. "Go. Have a safe ride home, alright? I expect to see you in one piece at school tomorrow. It's prank day."

"Yeah, I know." I laughed. "Bring supplies. I don't really have anything to use…"

"You don't need to. We'll probably switch it up last minute anyway. Thief said if he came up with anything better, he'd call me. No offense to Ryou, but it _has_ been done before. I think we all just forgot about it."

I smiled. "Yeah, true. He told me he heard of the prank before, but he didn't remember where he'd heard it. I guess we know now."

Bakura laughed. "Hey, Marik? On a serious note?"

"What is it?" I looked up into his dark eyes to see them glinting. He wasn't upset or anything, so that was good.

"Me still being friends with Thief and being close and stuff like that. Now that you know about our past…does it bother you that we're so close?"

"No." I replied. "It was just sex, right? Gratification because you both needed it, but no feelings involved?"

"Exactly."

"Even if you two had feelings for each other, I wouldn't care. I trust you to not do anything behind my back, and I trust Thief too."

"Oh." He seemed surprised. "Well good."

"Yeah, it is." I smiled. "Um…can I tell you something?"

"What is it?"

"Before you and I…you know…um…"

"What?"

"The other day, Ryou told me that he had had feelings for me at one point."

"And?"

"He kissed me…"

Bakura blinked. "Wasn't he with Yami a couple days ago?"

"This was like they day before they finalized anything, so I didn't really think anything of it."

"Alright then."

"Are you mad?"

"We weren't together, they weren't technically together. Why would I be mad at either of you for it?"

"Well we're still friends and stuff, and I didn't tell you and…"

"Marik, I trust you and Ryou as well, oaky? No need to worry about it." Bakura stated. "Like with me and Thief, I know you won't do anything together. Besides, if you do, you'd be breaking two hearts, not just one."

"Well, I wouldn't want to break one, let alone two." I stated. "Plus, I don't think of him like that, and he's totally into Yami."

"And 'totally' you're into me."

"More like obsessed. I don't' know how I got this bad."

"Probably for lusting after me all this time but never having the balls to admit it until I pissed you off enough, and you didn't think I'd remember because I was drunk. Or you thought I would get pissed at you, so you tried to flee. Which, may I point out, would mean you wouldn't have slept with me last night if you had succeeded." He smirked. "Good thing I stopped you, hm?"

I smiled softly and kissed the corner of his mouth. "Yeah, a very good thing. I wouldn't be with you now if you hadn't stopped me."

"And you also wouldn't know what it's like to sleep with someone as amazing in bed as me."

I laughed. "Someone's full of themselves."

"You were full of me too last night." He winked.

I flushed and laughed at him. "You're so lucky Thief isn't here. He might have beat you to death with a pillow for that one."

"You know my friends so well. Kind of scary when you think about it." Bakura laughed. "And Ryou would flush and get all embarrassed until Yami said something about them. Then he'd just get annoyed and Yami would kiss him to shut him up."

"And you know my best friend way too well." I pressed against him and lay my head on his shoulder. "I wish we didn't have to be a secret."

"It's only temporary." Bakura shook his head. "We'll come out eventually. Just like Ryou and Yami will. Hopefully before us."

"Why before us?"

"They got together before us. So they'd be a little cowardly if they waited."

"They're playing is safe. You know how people react to homosexuality sometimes." I stated. "And the second Ishizu finds out he's dating one of your best friends, she'll flip and forbid me from seeing him again."

"And what would she do if she found out you were not only dating me, but that you lost your virginity to me the night before we got together?"

"She'd disown my ass." I laughed a little.

"Then you could come here and live with me." Then I heard him mutter something I never thought I'd hear. "Then I wouldn't be so lonely anymore…"

I squeezed him close. "Oh, Bakura…I heard that." I said, laying my chin on his shoulder.

His arms wrapped tighter around my waist. "I wish you could stay here forever."

"Or at least until we turn 18 or can sustain ourselves."

"You'd seriously consider moving in with me if we could?"

"I'd move in with you right now if I wasn't terrified of my father hunting me down and killing us both."

"He won't hurt you while I'm around."

"He'll hurt you too."

"So let him. I'd rather he hurt me then hurt you." Bakura kissed the back of my neck, which he could reach because of the position I was in.

"I'd rather he hurt neither of us."

"Yes, but if it was one of us that had to be injured, I'd rather him hurt me before he even laid a _finger_ on you."

"I hope the day never comes where we'll have to risk that."

"I hope so too." Bakura sighed.

We just stood there like that, holding one another, for a good ten minutes.

"I better get going…" I muttered.

"Yeah." He let me go; holding my hand instead of my waist. "I'll see you at school."

"Sounds like a plan." I grinned. I kissed him again before I got on my motorcycle. I started it up as I put my helmet on and checked my balance. I gave him the thumbs up sign as he backed away.

He waved me off as I drove out of the driveway. I passed the house and watched him walk inside before speeding up to get home to whatever hell Ishizu was about to unleash on me.


	26. Fake It

Dlbn: Hey everyone! Welcome to another (late) update!

Nbld: Things have been hectic here lately, but we're ready to go! So let's begin with the Review Corner! Thank you to Silver-Haired-Thief, lil-yugioh-sonic-fan, Nightwitch1312, AnonymousGuest, Keilise, VampirePrinssess, animelvr16, impurepet, and OtEpShAmAyA for reviewing! Candy and colored eggs for you all!

Silver-Haired-Thief: I want to see a romantic Bakura :3 Bad dream killer, bad. *Bops Bakura on the nose with newspaper* Thank you Marik and Silver :3 glad you enjoyed!

Lil-yugioh-sonic-fan: Glad you enjoyed! I had thought of making it be Yami because he looks like Marik, but I decided to use Thief because I felt it was unexpected. Next chapter, coming up!

NightWitch1312: That they are :D But then you wouldn't be happy anymore. You'd have a sore face, and that's not good D: Ishizu will kill Marik and then Bakura if she finds out XD Thanks :) I was only debating because of fanfic's policies, but then I thought 'screw it, I'll post it as is. I don't feel like rewriting it all'. XD

AnonymousGuest: Aren't they, though!? :D

Keilise: Don't die! *does CPR* Nosebleeds ftw ;) Odd, because I normally post around 2 AM (for me anyway XD) Glad your stalking of the fic paid off :D Bakura needs to do a lot more then just kick his ass .

VampirePrinssess: Bakura's a jerk sometimes, even to the guy he loves XD I believe it's called "Geminishipping". Or just "hot" ;) Ishizu would go on a murderous rampage, killing Marik and Bakura both XD

Animelvr16: Thank you! Another chapter coming up! :D

Impurepet: Thanks :3 Oh, Ishizu and Marik's dad would kill them both if they knew the truth. We've sorted out or problems nicely, thanks :) We always do, but it's so hard when they come around. Though we now have a pact that we can't fight ever again, so that's good :3 Aw I'm sorry to hear that! Hope you feel better now! Aw thanks. I'm honored that it means that much :3

OtEpShAmAyA: I'm glad too :D It's about damn time ;)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Marik, Bakura, or anyone/anything else from the YuGiOh universe. They all belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of writing in this category.

Dedication: This fic is dedicated to everyone that celebrates Easter. Happy Easter everyone! And if you don't celebrate Easter, this fic is STILL dedicated to you as well! :D

Dedication 2: This is also dedicated to my boyfriend. He came home Wednesday and I picked him up, after we had to spend a month apart. Welcome back, love 3

000

As I had expected, my sister was waiting for me to come home.

"Where were you?" She asked me, standing up.

"Sleeping at Ryou's house." I lied.

"His mother said otherwise." She countered. "Where were you?"

"You don't have his mother's number. You're bluffing." I rolled my eyes. "Ask Ryou at school tomorrow if you don't believe me."

"I have her number. And I know he'd lie to cover for you."

"Not about this." I shook my head. "Look, I don't feel like arguing with you."

"Why are you walking funny?"

"Slipped in the bathroom. His mother washed the floors and forgot to tell us."

"Marik." Odion's voice called from the kitchen. "She's not going to believe you about anything."

"I don't get why not. I've never lied to you guys before. So why start now?"

"Because you've been hanging around with Bakura." Ishizu snorted.

I rolled my eyes. "Just because you think he's a bad person, it doesn't mean that hanging with him is going to turn me into…"

"_Think_ he's a bad person?" Ishizu laughed. "I _know_ he is. He pulls pranks on everyone and the school as a whole, he gets into fights, he hangs with Thief and Yami and we know they're trouble, too. He got you in trouble, and worst off, you have feelings for him."

"Okay, that last thing is _not_ his fault." I replied. "Okay, maybe it is for being so attractive, but he didn't choose that either."

Ishizu looked sickened by my statement. "I can't believe you're _attracted_ to that…that…ugh. I can't even think of the right thing to call him!"

"Call him Bakura." I ordered. "That's the best definition I can think of."

"Alright, stop." Odion ordered us. "We deal with enough drama and bullshit when dad's home and drunk, _or_ sober. We don't need you two fighting when it's supposed to be a peaceful weekend _without_ the drama and the fighting and the hatred because his ass is gone. So quit it."

"I'd back down if she left Bakura lone for once and didn't accuse me of being a liar." I glared at my sister.

"I'll apologize for calling you a liar, but I really don't believe you were at Ryou's."

"Where else would I be?"

"With Bakura."

"For a couple hours, yeah, because we have to. But other then that, I was with Ryou."

"Did you hang with Bakura gain today?"

"Once again, for a few hours." I replied. "Why do you think I came home so late? Dad's not here, so I didn't have to avoid the house at all."

Ishizu gave me a look that clearly said she didn't believe me, but sighed. "Fine. I'll talk to Ryou tomorrow at school, then. Did you finish your homework?"

"All of it but math."

"Go do your homework, then your chores. I'll have dinner ready in a bit."

"Fine." I replied, walking down the hall to my room.

Once inside, I shut my door and dropped my bags on the floor. I trudged over to my bed and flopped down on it on my back. God, was I sore. I could only hope I was fine in the morning so no one at school would suspect anything was wrong, and so my sister wouldn't ask again.

000

At school the next day, I met with Bakura and the others in the woods to get straight to work on our plans. We had decided to skip homeroom, since no one really cared about it anyway, and it gave us quite a bit of time. We still had to decide what room to change the prank to, or what we wanted to do to spice it up a little bit. Overdoing the same prank was pretty pathetic.

"We already have things set up for the prank." Bakura stated. "We just need to wait until there's a gym class to finish the plan."

"What did you do?" I wondered.

"We waxed the floors in the gym." Thief stated. "But the next part we want you guys to help with."

"What is it?" Ryou wondered.

"We're going to turn coach's office into a little island." Yami informed. "There aren't any classes until third period, so the office is vulnerable. It's not locked, so we can get right inside."

"And we won't get caught?" I wondered.

Bakura shook his head. "No one even touches the gym this early. Trust me, we've thought all this out and planned it out far in advance."

"Besides, if anyone comes after us, they'll slide around on the waxed floor." Thief laughed.

The rest of us couldn't help but laugh too.

"Did you guys bring supplies, or…?" Ryou wondered, nervously playing with a piece of his hair.

"Everything is in there already. Let's hurry now." Bakura stated. "If we hesitate too long, and don't go to class soon, they'll get suspicious that we were all out at the same time again."

"Then let's go."

000

The gym was dark, empty, and reminded me of a black hole when we got inside it. Other then coach's office, the only other entrances to the actual gym was the locker rooms. The school had locked the doors from the outside in the gym to prevent break-ins. Unfortunately for them, they were dealing with juvenile delinquents who were a little advanced for their ages. As Bakura had said, the office was unlocked. He slipped in first, followed by Yami, Ryou, me, and then Thief. Inside coach's office were bags of sand, a fake palm tree, some seashells, and beach toys that probably came from a dollar store or were stolen from a young child.

"So what do we do?" Ryou wondered.

"As you can see, we moved all the furniture against the walls already, so there's only the huge space on the floor." Bakura began. "Pour the sand, then get creative with everything else. Just make sure the fake palm tree is in the center of the pile."

"And what are you guys going to do?" Ryou wondered. "It won't take all five of us to do this."

"We've got the locker rooms to mess with." Thief stated. "And when you guys are done, spray that air freshening spray in the room. We want it to look _and_ smell like an island."

"Got it."

"We also have a remote controlled CD player over here." Yami pointed at the machine with his thumb.

It resided on the coach's desk. I recognized it as belonging to one of the English teachers.

"There's an island sounds CD in it." Yami stated. "We're going to set that off when the first gym class comes in. Coach is always late to that, so we can call him down with a little music."

"Meanwhile, everyone else will be slipping around on the waxed floors." Bakura chuckled. "Come on, we don't have much time, and you two need to get to class."

"I kind of want to skip so I can see what happens…" Ryou muttered.

"Me too." I agreed, nodding.

This was our first prank, after all, and a bit of a bonding experience for our newly formed group. Sure, it had to be kept secret, but if we knew it, then it was good enough.

"We have cameras set up to record the whole thing. We'll get them during homeroom tomorrow." Bakura stated. "Now no more stalling. Let's go."

He took his friends into the boys' locker room first. Ryou and I looked at each other and then at the bags piled together in the room.

"Let's rip open a bag and get to pouring." I offered.

"Sounds good." He grinned.

The two of us worked at ripping open the bags and pouring sand all over the floor. We left a pathway to exit the room, which we would probably fill up with sand after the others were out as well. Once the bags were empty, save for a little bit in one bag to fill up the trail, Ryou and I worked using the shovels and other toys to put a bunch of the sand into a pile like an island. There was still sand covering the floor of the office, but the excess was an island. Ryou stuck the end of the fake palm tree into the top of the pile. Next to that, he put round brown objects that I guessed were horribly crafted fake coconuts. I set them up under the tree and gathered the toys to remove them. I shoved them into a section in my backpack that I didn't plan on using and zipped it back up. I'd just ditch them somewhere far from the school, or find the kid they were stolen from and leave them on their front step so they could get their things back. Once we were done, I took advantage of the path we had left cleared and made my way to the locker room that the others were in. A fake tropical bird greeted me, flying down from where it was anchored on the ceiling and screeched. I covered my mouth to prevent myself form screaming and embarrassing myself.

Bakura came out from behind a row of lockers and gave me a look. "What is it?" He wondered.

"We're all done. We left a clear path for you guys to get out of the office." I informed.

"Okay." Bakura smiled. "But now we have to re-rig up that bird."

"Sorry…"

"No, it's fine. Otherwise, we'd have to escape through the gym or leave footprints in the sand."

"I figured that if that happened, they could check your shoes." I shrugged. "I figured the principal or coach might assume it was you and the others doing it right away. Sorry…"

"Don't apologize." He joined my side. "It sounds a little pathetic when you keep doing that."

"Sorry." I laughed. "How are you guys going to get into the girls locker room?"

"Thief went in very slowly. He said he could tell where dry patches were and walked in them."

"Okay…"

"He'll come back in here when he's done."

"Where's Yami?"

"Taking a leak."

"Oh."

Bakura smirked and pulled me close. "Enjoying your first prank?"

"Yeah, you could say that." I nuzzled against him. "But what I'm enjoying most is spending time with you. Are your parents still away?" I traced lazy little designs on his chest.

"For a few more days, yeah." His smirk grew into a perverted smile. "Are you thinking of something?"  
"Well, I _do_ have to go to your house for our so-called 'punishment' after school for a few hours…" I smirked and pressed my lips to his neck. "So why can't we have a little more fun? The other night was amazing, after all. Wasn't it?"

"You can say that again." Bakura pulled me closer, if that was possible. "God, I can't wait to get you home and screw your brains out." He ground against me slightly, making me moan.

"This day better go by fast." I moaned, threading my fingers through his silver-white hair. "I don't know how long I can wait before I need to pull you into a janitor's closet and have my way with you."

He moaned and tilted my chin up so we were at eye level. "Maybe we should have a little fun now, hm?" He pressed his lips forcefully to mine.

I moaned into the kiss and pressed flush against him, grinding into him like he had ground into me. Both of us moaned into the kiss as our tongues fought one another. I heard someone clear their throat and we split.

Yami stood to the side, watching us with some sort of fascination as he smirked. His arms were folded over his chest, but he didn't appear annoyed.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting something, but if you two go any further, coach will have some interesting DNA evidence to find later." He informed us.

I flushed as Bakura growled at him.

"You're an idiot." Bakura informed.

"I know." Yami smirked. "Your little boy toy is blushing."

Bakura looked down at me and kissed the tip of my nose. "You're adorable when you do that. You're too pale otherwise."

I laughed. "Look who's talking! You look like a sheet compared to me." I smiled. "At least I have my Egyptian heritage and stereotypical skin tone to keep me from looking like the undead. And your hair color doesn't help." I twisted some strands of it around my fingers. "Not that I'm complaining. Looking like the undead or not, I love you all the same."

He chuckled. "That was a long way to the punch line there."

"It's not a punch line…"

"He meant it took you a long time to get to what you were trying to say." Yami replied. "It doesn't have to be a joke."

"Oh."

Bakura laughed. The door to the locker room opened and Ryou came in with Thief.

"The girls' locker room is all done." Thief informed. "Why is Marik imitating a tomato?"

Ryuo giggled into his hand. "Yami must have caught them together." He said, though his voice was muffled.

I glared at him over my shoulder but laughed. "Almost." I winked.

Ryou laughed louder.

Thief threw a hand over my friend's mouth to stop him from being too loud.

"Watch it." Yami ordered.

"I'm not doing anything…yuck!" Thief snapped his hand from Ryou. "Did you just lick me?"

Ryou shrugged, making Yami laugh at his friend's expense.

"Alright, enough of this. Let's get going. These guys left a trail so we can get out without leaving foot prints." Bakura informed, taking me by the hand. "Lead the way, babe."

"You guys have to go first so Ryou and I can fill up the rest of the path." I took out a shovel form my backpack and Ryou held his up for show.

I then noticed that my friend held the bag still containing sand in his left hand.

"Alright, let's get going. It's almost the end of first period." Bakura stated.

He let Thief, Yami, and Ryou go out before us. He pulled me close and nibbled on my earlobe.

"Hurry up after school." He ordered me. "I don't want to wait too long, and the vibrations from your motorcycle are going to make my hard-on that much worse, alright?"

"Sounds good to me." I smirked. "Hey, since your parents won't be home…think we could have fun somewhere that's not your bedroom?"

He grinned. "I'd like to see you doubled over my couch." He informed. "Come on now, let's get going. We can talk sex positions later."

I nodded in agreement. "Try not to think about it too hard. Don't want people wondering about this." I cupped the bulge in his jeans for a moment, making him moan my name, before letting him go. "Let's get going."

"Right."

I let him go out first, then followed. Ryou switched places with me and filled the line up with sand as he walked backwards and out the door. I took the bag of sand and the shovel he had and shoved them in with the other things in my backpack. No one would ever suspect me or him of doing something wrong, so the chances of us being searched were slim to none.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way," Bakura said, "everyone lay low for a while. Go to class, act normal. When everything goes down, we have to play along like we don't know." He looked at Ryou and me. "This is your guys' first prank. Can you pull it off?"

"I keep just how close you and I are a secret from my siblings and lie straight to their face about sleeping at your place." I stated. "I think I have a pretty good poker face."

"Yami and I keep our relationship hidden, too." Ryou stated. "I can handle a lie."

"Good." Thief nodded. "So the plan is that anyone that gets caught doesn't rat out the others, alright? Especially Ryou and Marik. We don't need their records getting tarnished."

"We know what to do about it, Thief. No big deal." Yami rolled his eyes. "Let's stop wasting time talking about this and get out of here already."

"Agreed." Bakura stated. "See you later." He kissed my temple and ran his fingers through my hair before leaving, with Thief and Yami (after he had kissed Ryou goodbye) in tow.

"I'll go to class first, then you come in?" I wondered. "If anyone asks, I got sick before homeroom and you wanted to stay with me to make sure I was alright?"

"Deal." Ryou nodded. "Did you puke?"

"Sure."

"Alright, then we have a story. Let's get going."

The two of us walked down towards class, neither of us knowing what would await us once that third period bell rang.


	27. Love The Way You Lie

Dlbn: Hey, everyone! Looks like I'm getting better at this once a week updating thing, huh? ;)

Nbld: Oh shut up. You completely forgot you had to update until Sunday night.

Dlbn: But I remembered, and that's the only thing that counts, sis.

Nbld: Whatever. Let's move onto the more important thing. The Review Corner! Thank you to lil-yugioh-sonic-fan, Keilise, Silver-Haired-Thief, VampirePrinssess, NightWitch1312, xXAnachronIsmEpsIceXx, animelvr16, impure pet, SilverBakura86, Jem Kallop, and 123579Marik for reviewing! Chocolate and Peeps shaped like Marik and Bakura for you all!

Lil-yugioh-sonic-fan: My one coach in high school would have gotten a kick out of it, but the rest would kill us XD

Keilise: You can say that again XD But if he wasn't blunt, then he wouldn't be Bakura :3 I'm sure you write great! :D If I can figure out who to put her with, then yes. But I'm not sure who it would be yet XD

Silver-Haired-Thief: Isn't it, though? :3 You're not the King of Thieves here, Fluffy. That would be Thief XD Kitty! *throws newspaper at Bakura*

VampirePrinssess: For some reason, I find their first prank just as sweet as their first kiss :3 Yami and Ryou will have their own little segment at some point, actually. I'm just trying to figure out how to write it without changing POV…hm…maybe another flashback like the one a few chapters ago…Ishizu needs to back off, seriously. She's just as bad as their father in some ways.

NightWitch1312: Of course they can't. They've got to share the love with everyone ;) Glad you liked. Thanks!

xXAnachronIsmEpsIceXx: Bakura doesn't say it in here, but he really does remember everything about it, honestly. He's just always gotta be an ass XD I probably would have been embarrassed if I said that to someone when I was drunk, too. Not a good time to admit your true feelings XD I can see Thief trying to do that, actually XD I don't think I can see Bakura even _considering_ sharing Marik with anyone, really. After all, Marik's love is the only love he really gets.

Yami is Yami No Marik, yes. Pharaoh is referred to as Atem in this story. And yeah, he's Yugi's brother. Haha I love how you put that XD yeah, it's Deathshipping XD I think I mentioned it in a review reply for someone else, but I'm not sure. I know I mentioned it at one point though.

Luckily, Marik's father is out of town. But I can't say whether or not he gets in trouble yet ;) Marik's dad needs to be stopped and taken away before he goes too far one day. Just saying.

I'm glad you're enjoying! More big things are sure to come!

Animelvr16: Glad you enjoyed!

Impurepet: Aw thank you :3 I'm sure you'll do great! Best of luck to you :D I had to live like that for a while, actually. My desktop died and we got rid of AOL, then I had a laptop with no internet. I had to post in school. Which really sucked over summer because then I couldn't update anything and people lost interest XD Here's another chapter for when you return :D

SilverBakura86: Marik doesn't always have the best ideas, apparently XD Hehe perhaps ;) You stay awesome too!

Jem Kallop: No worries ^^ Glad you're enjoying! Thanks, that means a lot :D Ishizu would kill him worse then their father would, let's be honest ^^"

13579Marik: Yeah, they really are :3 Ooh, I like your profile pic :D Wow, really? That's a lot of reading to do! Glad you're enjoying it that much! *hugs*

Disclaimer; I do NOT own anything that looks familiar. That all belongs to the YuGiOh franchise and, therefore, Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of writing in this category.

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to all my friends who are having relationship issues at the moment. Which is surprisingly most of them, including myself. It'll get better everyone! We're stronger then this! :D

000

After the first bell of third period rang, you could practically hear coach screaming and the veins in his neck pulsing. Ryou and I shared a look as we stopped dead in the middle of the halls like the rest of the surprised students were doing. No one seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary as Coach burst through the gym doors; slipping and sliding.

"Alright!" He called out as he steadied himself. "Who's the wise guy behind this?"

The principal came down the hallway. "What's going on out here?" Mr. Gozoboro wondered. "I heard you shouting, Shumaya."

"Someone turned my office into an entire island!" Coach Shumaya informed. "Not to mention the gym floor is slippery."

Mr. Gozoboro raised an eyebrow. "Where are Bakura and his friends?" He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Right here." Bakura informed, as he and his friends made their way to the clearing. "But we didn't do anything. How could you just accuse us without evidence?" He folded his arms over his chest.

"Because it's _always_ you three."

The three of them rolled their eyes as a unit. Mr. Gozoboro sighed. "In my office, boys, now. We'll sort this out." He looked at Ryou and me. "You should come along, too, Marik. I know you and Bakura get along now."

People made 'ooh' noises as I flushed bright red. Ryou grabbed my wrist to reassure me and smiled innocently at me.

"You'll be fine." He stated. "You didn't do anything wrong. Association with Bakura doesn't mean anything…"

"Yeah, that's true."

"If it comes out that you had something to do with this, you're dead." Ishizu said from behind me. Understand?"

"Yeah, yeah." I waved her off. "I did nothing, so I have nothing to fear from you."

She glared at me, annoyed by my obvious rebellion against her. Mr. Gozoboro grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me along with him.

"Coach, make gym class into a study hall and go to room 119." Mr. Gozoboro informed. "I will get the janitors to clean up the gym and your office as soon as I deal with these four."

Coach looked ready for a vein to burst, but he nodded. "Alright, you heard the man! Anyone with gym now can report to…"

Screams came from the girls' locker room and Mai and Tea burst out.

"There are _birds_ in there!" Mai informed. "Ugh, one hit me in the face!"

"They're fake, but it's so creepy!" Tea complained.

Mr. Gozoboro fixed me and the others with an annoyed glared. "I'll get the janitors on that, too."

Without another word, he led the four of us down the hallways to his office. Bakura shot me a sympathetic look and held me by the wrist whenever Mr. Gozoboro wasn't looking; only to rip away and act annoyed at the Principal whenever he looked in our direction to make sure we were following.

000

I sat nervously in the secretary's office with Yami and Thief. Bakura was being interrogated by Mr. Gozoboro, and judging from the Principal's tone, Bakura was pissing him off somehow. I played with the strap to my backpack as Yami and Thief whispered amongst themselves.

"Relax a little, Marik." Thief stated. "You're going to seem suspicious."

"I'm just nervous. I've never been interrogated for something I didn't do before…"

"You're been interrogated for stuff you did do before?" Yami questioned, cocking an eyebrow.

"No…" I muttered. "But still, it's nerve wracking being interrogated."

"You're not being interrogated yet." Thief laughed, slapping me on the back. "None of us did anything, and we know it. You'll be fine, Malik."

"Don't call me that…" I muttered in annoyance.

Mr. Gozoboro's office door opened up and Bakura walked out. He had already spoken to Yami and Thief, so I assumed it was my turn to go in.

"Marik, come on in."

I had assumed right. I left my backpack in the office with Bakura and his friends before going into the office. Mr. Gozoboro shut his door and didn't speak again until he was seated behind the desk.

"Let's cut to the chase here, Marik." He stated. "I know you didn't have anything to do with this."

I was dumbfounded. "Then why…?"

"Because I know that _they_ do, and I know Bakura likes you. If he thinks you're in trouble, then he'll come clean to keep you out of trouble, right?"

"He wouldn't do that for his friends, let alone me."

Mr. Gozoboro thought about it for a moment. "True…" He paused. "But I feel like having an innocent person…"

"Innocent people don't matter to him." I shook my head. "Do you really think he did it?"

"Who else?"

I shrugged.

Mr. Gozoboro smiled. "Just do me a favor, please, Marik?" He wondered.

"Um…depends on what it is."

He laughed. "Smart boy." He said. "It's nothing too bad." He leaned close to me so he could whisper. "So, we're going to put on a show for those three in my main office, alright? Pretend to cave in and say you did it. I'll punish you and we'll make sure Bakura and his friends overhear. They'll do the right thing, if Bakura is really friends with you."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that…"

"Are you going to help me?"

"Sorry, sir, but I can't do that…Bakura trusts me…"

"You two aren't friends, so why should it matter?"

"We…we _are_ friends…" A lot more then that. "It's just a new friendship, so I don't want to risk damaging that…"

"He won't know that we had a plan together."

"Sorry, but in good conscience, I can't do that." I stood. "Now, can I please leave so I can go to English? I'm close to failing, and I don't want to miss another class."

He didn't say anything as I left his office for the main office. Bakura and his friends were still sitting there, waiting for someone to say something. I shrugged and took my seat. The secretary looked at us all warily as we waited there for Mr. Gozoboro to come out. The principal came out into the main office, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"It looks as though simply interrogating you four isn't going to get me any answers I need." He informed. "And since there are no security cameras in the locker rooms, and considering that the ones in the halls, coach's office, and gym were taken out somehow, I can't just watch tapes to get the truth out. I'm going to have to do something drastic."

"Such as?" Thief wondered.

"Backpacks, all of you. I'm going to search your bags." He held out his hand.

"You can't be serious." Bakura stated, as the rest of us simply let our jaws drop.

I tried not to gulp, remembering that the tools were still in my bag. I hadn't had the chance to deposit them into my locker. He'd find them and pin everything on me. I was screwed.

"I'm very serious. A lot of people could have been hurt by this prank. Thankfully, we only have one slippery and pissed off coach and two frightened teenage girls to worry about, instead of an entire gym classes." He said. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, and searching students is allowed under certain circumstances . It's in your student handbooks, if any of you bothered to read those."

"No one bothers to read those." Yami informed.

The rest of us snickered.

"Yes, well…it's on page seven." Mr. Gozoboro replied. "So hand over the bags."

Reluctantly, the four of us did so. Mr. Gozoboro went into his office with the bags. The secretary followed him with some paperwork and they shut the door. I gulped.

"Bakura, I'm screwed." I whispered.

"What's wrong?" Bakura put a hand over mine. "None of us have evidence, and…"

"I do. I didn't know what to do with the tools, so they're in my bag…"

"I don't think he's going to look in yours, Marik." Thief whispered. "He trusts you too much to think you actually had anything to do with it. We heard him in there with you. I had my ear pressed to the wall."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not surprised by that one." I muttered. "But what if he does look?"

"We'll figure something out." Bakura replied. "Don't sweat it."

We all jumped as the door to Mr. Gozoboro's office opened up. He walked out carrying the tools in his left hand. I cursed inside.

"Who's backpack?" He held up mine.

I gathered the courage to speak. "It's mine…but I don't know how that got in there!"

"Sorry, Marik." Bakura informed. "I put them in there when you weren't looking earlier. I didn't think he'd search you."

"Bakura…" I started to make up something to say, but he cut me off.

"Now can you let them go?" He wondered. "I'll take the blame."

"You had help." Mr. Gozoboro informed. "There's no way…"

"It was all me, I swear." Bakura put up two fingers. "Scout's honor."

"When were you ever a scout?" Yami wondered.

Thief slapped him on the back of the head and shook his own head. Mr. Gozoboro sighed. "You boys are free to go. Bakura, my office. Sorry, Marik, but you're going to have to wait for him about an hour later then usual after school to finish your punishment, alright?"

"Yes, sir." I replied.

It only meant I got to stay at his place later and avoid my sister more. Besides, I felt like doing something that night, anyway, and would really need the time. Yami and Thief took their things from Mr. Gozoboro before thief handed me my bag. I took it and gave Bakura a sympathetic look, mouthing a 'thank you' when Mr. Gozoboro went into his office.

Bakura smirked and mouthed back 'I love you' before going into the office as well. Thief, Yami, and I walked out into the hall together.

"I can't believe he did that for me…I feel so bad…" I said.

"He really does care about you, you know." Thief informed, patting me on the shoulder. "He's always talking about you. Though, considering what he's told me about you in the sack, I'd be obsessed with you too if I were him."

I flushed and slapped his shoulder. "Shut up, pervert."

"You'd also die to be him, too." Yami informed. "Don't act like you don't still want to be doing Bakura."

"S-Shut up…" Thief flushed. "Besides, if I were him, it would have to be the other way around. I don't bottom."

"Shut up." I argued. "I don't care what I am, as long as it's him…"

"You're as sappy and pathetic as he is." Thief laughed. "You're a good match, kid." He threw his arm around my shoulders.

I rolled my eyes. "And what did you two have in common besides the color of your hair?" I wondered.

Thief glared at me. Yami laughed.

"As I'm sure you can vouch for, he's good." Thief winked.

"Well, no, I can't deny that." I laughed.

"God, all this sex talk is making me want to go find Ryou and drag him into a janitor's closet…"

"He's probably worried sick." I stated. "Shit, I wish I had a damn cell phone…"

"Want to use mine?" Yami asked, handing it to me. "Just give it back to me before lunch or something."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Yami nodded. "Just don't look through my texts with Ryou. You might learn some things you didn't care to know."

I paled. "Noted."

Thief laughed at that one, removing his arm from my shoulders. "Alright, you text your friend, we're going to class. I'm sure Bakura will want to talk to you alone in lunch today, so I'll let you know." He stated. "I'll text Yami's phone when I get the chance. You just give it to Bakura later to hand off, alright?"

I nodded. "Sure thing."

"Alright, let's go." Thief nudged Yami, and they went to their class.

I sighed and pulled up Yami's text messages with Ryou.

_Ryou, it's Marik. Yami is letting me use his cell._ I typed.

The reply was almost instant.

_**Did you get caught?!**_

_Almost, but Bakura saved my ass. Threw himself under the bus._

_**Aw, that's sweet.**_

_Yeah. I owe him something tonight._

_**Haha I didn't need to know that.**_

_You know more then you needed to know already, so a little bit more information shouldn't kill you._

_**Yeah, very true. Where are you now?**_

_On my way to English._

_**Good, because we're having a test at the end of the period about the homework.**_

_Shit._

_**So hurry up, stop texting me, and get here before you miss too much!**_

_I'm coming, I'm coming._

_**That's what Yami said :P**_

_Ew._

_**Consider it payback for earlier ;)**_

_Haha, very funny, Ryou XD I tell you one thing, I'm not doing any more pranks for a long time. I got Bakura in trouble. I feel horrible._

_**It was HIS decision to throw himself under the bus for you. Don't feel so bad, Marik. He's just protecting you because he knows what Ishizu-and your dad-would do if you got into trouble AGAIN.**_

_True. Alright, I'm almost at class. See you in a few._

_**Later.**_

I sighed and put the phone away in my pocket before grabbing the handle to the classroom door and scooting in to take my seat next to Ryou.

"How appropriate of you to join us now." Our teacher grinned. "Just in time for an exam. I hope you weren't messing around out there."

"I was in the Principal's office."

"Mr. Gozoboro thought that he had something to do with the gym incident." Yugi informed, waving his hand. "He's telling the truth."

"I don't care what it was. Let's just get on with the exam. No more procrastination…where's Bakura?"

"Guess…"

Our teacher sighed and shook his head before beginning to pass out the exams.


	28. Tell Me What You Did

Dlbn: Hey, everyone! Sorry for the long break!

Nbld: It's been crazy around here because my graduation is coming up and my parents are making it more difficult then it really needs to be.

Dlbn: God, I need to move out of here.

Nbld: Too bad money prevents that . But anyway, enough of our emo-ness. First off, sorry that it's a bit on the short side, everyone. We just really wanted to get out a chapter. Now, let's get onto a much better thing! The Review Corner! Thank you to animelvr16, lil-yugioh-sonic-fan, 13579Marik, yugiohfan9, Nightwitch1312, impurepet, Srocks, OtEpShAmAyA, penspensandmo, and KingOresama for reviewing! Cookies for you all! *hands out cookies*

Animelvr16: Glad you enjoyed! Next chapter coming up!

Lil-yugioh-sonic-fan: Bakura's a good boyfriend, taking the fall like that :3 People stare at me funny for laughing loudly at stuff too, so I know how you feel XD Glad you enjoyed! Um…they stole them or bought them or something. I'm not really sure either O.o

13579Marik: Glad you liked! Bakura did a good thing *pats Bakura on the head* YAY :D

Yugiohfan9: Bakura can be a good guy when given the chance. People just don't give him the chance that often, unfortunately :/ Aw, don't worry about it. Sometimes things just come up and you don't got time. I know how it is ^^ Aw, thanks. Glad you're liking them!

NightWitch1312: Bakura is a little ball of love. He just hides it (very?) well. Gozoboro is kind of annoying, I admit. But he gives great punishments ;) Not a very effective Principal, when you think about it. Thief will be jelly til the day he dies, I swear :P

Impurepet: Welcome back! *hugs* Bakura's got some good in him. Somewhere deep down, that is ;) Unfortunately, all great things must come to an end :/ I'm glad you had fun! Now to catch up on that school work, right? ;) thank you. Good luck with everyone on your end to. Love, Dlbn.

Srocks: Bakura has some semblance of chivalry in him :D

OtEpShAmAyA: For once, Bakura doesn't do something Bakura-like and predictable :D I was originally going to have Marik go and turn himself in and say Bakura was covering, but it doesn't work out right. I like this alternative better :3

Penspensandmo: Marik owes him a lot of something, if you know what I mean ;) He's a good guy, he just does dumb stuff that gets him a bad rep XD

KingOresama: I liked your review ^^ I'm horrible at writing reviews, myself. I never know how to start or end them without rambling ^^" Yup, Yami is Melvin. I should've just called him Melvin, but that would be stealing from LK ;) Glad you enjoyed :D *hands tissues* They didn't seem disconnected at all :)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Marik, Bakura, or anything else from the YuGiOh franchise. They all belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of writing in this category.

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to everyone graduating from my college this Saturday. We made it, everyone, even when others told us no or tried to stop us! Now we're onto bigger and better things. But we better not lose contact. We'll stalk each other. Literally ;)

000

When lunch time came around, I waited for Yami and Thief to give me a signal that Bakura was waiting for me. Upon entering the cafeteria, Yami nodded once in my direction and the once towards the lunch room doors.

"That's my cue." I told Ryou, who I'd spent the last ten minutes telling in detail what happened in the Principal's Office.

"Have fun." Ryou grinned.

I watched Yami smirk as I passed by him as he went to sit with Ryou to keep him company. Thief was in tow, but he sent me a little smile to let me know things were okay. I pushed open the lunch room doors to find no one in the hallway; not even Bakura. I looked around, confused, before I felt someone grab me from behind. They held my arms behind my back and covered my mouth with their other hand. I gasped against the feeling of being controlled that way until I felt lips softly pressing against my neck. I leaned into the person holding me, and looked out of the side of my eye to see Bakura's face next to mine.

"Were you expecting someone else, perhaps?" He wondered.

"No." I replied, though it was muffled by his hand over my lips.

Bakura chuckled and kissed me where my neck met my shoulder. "I think somewhere more private would suit us best at this given moment." He let me go and spun me to face him, catching me once again.

I laughed. "Sounds like a good idea, Bakura." I informed him, running my fingers through his pale hair. "But it also sounds like you have a little something planned." I pecked him on the corner of his mouth so we wouldn't deepen the kiss and risk being caught.

"Not really. Unless you do." Bakura stated. "I know what a perverted little boy you become around me."

"Yeah, you and I know I become a total slut where you're concerned." I rolled my eyes. "Get real, Bakura. Come on, let's go before we get caught."

"Alright, alright." Bakura chuckled. He pulled away from me, only to take my hand and lead me down the halls.

He led me to the other side of the school, where there was a second staircase. Bakura pulled me under the staircase and pressed me roughly against the wall. Before I cold protest, he captured my lips in his. He stepped forward with one foot and wiggled his way between my knees. My fingers tangled in his hair as his fingers played with the hem of my shirt and moved it to allow his hands easier access to my flesh. I moaned lightly as he moved from my lips to suckle at the junction of my neck and shoulder.

"Kura…careful…don't leave a mark!"

He pulled away and chuckled, kissing the spot he has sucked on for a moment or two. "Relax, I have that much sense, you know."

I laughed. "Yeah, I know you do." I sighed. "How much trouble are you in?"

"I have in school detention this week, and next week I have to stay for after school detention every day." He shrugged. "Not that I really care. Although not seeing you as much is going to suck…"

"Same here." I kissed his forehead as he looked up at me form where he was still kissing my neck. "But not as much as you do." He winked.

I rolled my eyes. "Pervert."

"Takes one to know one."

"I never said I wasn't a pervert," I stated, shaking my head, "I just pointed out that _you_ were one as well."

"Does this really surprise you? If it does, then you don't know me nearly as well as I give you credit for, Marik."

"I'm not surprised, not at all. Just stating the obvious, I suppose."

"You tend to do that a lot. Makes you sound like a complete know it all."

"Better be a know it all then a know nothing."

"Like me?"

"Exactly…wait a second!"

He burst into laughter, laying his face on my shoulder. "Oh, Marik." He chuckled, pulling away to peck me on the lips. "No matter what my punishment is, it's worth it to protect you."

I flushed. "B-Bakura…that's sweet…but don't get in trouble just for my sake…I would have taken the punishment."

"Your father would have flipped." Bakura countered. "Not to mention Ishizu's yelling. At least there aren't any repercussions for me if I get in trouble." He shrugged. "My parents either don't pay attention or just don't care that I'm a delinquent who steals shit and causes hell, and has no future."

"You have a future with me…"

He smiled. "That's sweet." A peck on my lips.

"Thanks." I laughed, pulling him a tiny bit closer. "You and I should have some fun when we get to your place later." I winked.

"Sounds good to me." He winked back. "Unless you want to find a Janitor's closet and…"

"Damn it, Bakura. Always gotta ruin the moment, don't you?"

He laughed. "It's part of my job, Marik."

"What's the other part?"

"Causing hell."

"You got that right." I laughed at him.

He chuckled. "I wouldn't be Bakura if I didn't lash out for attention all the time."

"Well, maybe you and I can work together to quench that urge, hm?" I ran my hands down to rest on his chest. "Because I'm not going anywhere…"

"If I completely change, people are going to know something is up." He kissed the top of my head. "I don't want you to have to deal with your sister's reactions if she finds out about us."

"Eh, I can handle Ishizu throwing a temper tantrum." I shrugged it off. "What I can't handle is my father going psychotic in a drunken rage."

"Which is another reason we can't let this go public." Bakura sighed. "I'm sorry, Marik, I really am, but it's for your own safety."

"And what about yours, hm? My father threatened to kill you…"

"He'd have to find me first. He doesn't know where I live, or even what I _look_ like." Bakura chuckled. "He can't find me unless someone tells him enough about me. Which I doubt you would…but would your sister?"

"She'd never talk to him, even if it would save her life."

"What if she had no choice? Or if she got mad enough…"

"There's nothing you can do to make her mad enough to send a drunken asshole after you." I shook my head. "Besides, Odion would do something about it."

"Do you think he'd be okay about us?"

"He's more supportive of my feelings for you then my sister is, though I don't really need their approval."

He kissed my forehead. "You know, you're more then welcome to move in with me. I mean, my parents pay for the place, but as you know, they're hardly there." He informed me. "So even if they find out about us, we can escape it. Hardly anyone knows where I live. Just Ryou, Thief, and Yami."

"Yeah, but if I suddenly went missing, my sister would call the cops and first suspect you. Whether my actions are going to be willing or not, she'd freak out and the cops would make me go home to get beaten by my father."

"You could tell them about your father." Bakura stated. "They'd have to listen when a kid makes a report like that."

"I can't do that to him."

Bakura gave me a look. "Seriously, Marik? After all…"

"My sister, my brother, and I will all be separated if that happens." I stated. "I'm sorry, Bakura, but my mind is made up on that."

He sighed in irritation. "What if I could guarantee that you wouldn't be separated? Would you report the bastard then?"

I paused for a moment, considering. "How could you guarantee that?"

"I'll talk to my old caseworker." Bakura shrugged. "I'm sure she can pull some strings. And like is aid, no one is ever home, so you guys can all just stay there. Your siblings will just have to deal with the sounds of me screwing you senseless every night." He winked.

I laughed. "You're predictable, Bakura."

"Yeah, but it at least stops you from getting too surprised."

"Unfortunately. I kind of like surprises."

"Oh? Then how about I 'surprise' you with something tonight, hm? Would that be acceptable?"

I chuckled. "Sure, Bakura, whatever you say."

He gave me a hug. "I saw we get back to the cafeteria before anyone notices our absences and starts rumors."

"The rumors would probably be true."

"True, but no one knows that."

"Touché." I laughed.

He took me by the hand and led me back to the cafeteria to join Ryou and the others for what was left of our lunch period.


	29. Romeo and Juliet

Dlbn: Hey, everyone! We're back!

Nbld: Sorry about the _**really**_ long wait, but here's another chapter to make up for it!

Dlbn: No reasons or excuses for this huge time break.

Nbld: So let's not waste any more time! It's time for the Review Corner! Thank you to Thiefshipping-feels, lil-yugioh-sonic-fan, SilverBakura86, NightWitch1312, Lovely Thief, 13579Marik, animelvr16, Keilise, VampirePrinssess, impurepet, yugiohfan9, OtEpShAmAyA, and KingOresama for reviewing! Cookies for you all!

Thiefshipping-feels: Whether he knows it or not, he really is :3 No hospitalization! Bad feels, don't hurt! D: the link you provided in another review is missing the first part ^^"

Lil-yugioh-sonic-fan: Aw, I'm glad your bad mood went away! :D Hey, a little bit of pervert never hurt anyone ;) Yeah, they really do need to get away from that thing…

SilverBakura86: Sexy time will come eventually. Gotta _ease_ into it ;) It's okay. never apologize for fangirl moments. We all have um :D Coming up next! You stay awesome, too! :D

NightWitch1312: Thanks :3 I like writing cute banter for them when they're alone hehe ^^ Next chapter coming right up! I'm sure Marik feels the same way ;)

Lovely Thief: Glad you like! They really do need to get away from their father. Maybe Bakura's the answer to their prayers ;) Aw thank you :D graduation was great ^^

13579Marik: Glad you like! Haha well, that would be bad if they exploded…XD Thank you!

Animelvr16: Glad you liked! More coming up!

Keilise: He's one of a kind, isn't he? :D They will eventually ;)

VampirePrinssess: If word got around school, Ishizu would bring some hell down upon them both. No, I don't think she's mean enough to tell their dad. No matter how much she doesn't like Bakura, she's not going to risk her brother getting hurt too. Bakura's got a soft side :3

Impurepet: He does really need to get lost. I could see Ishizu hanging around more to make sure they don't have any 'private time', if you know what I mean ;) I'm sure the idea of her brother sleeping with Bakura makes her skin crawl XD Yeah, adaptation is the best way to handle it sometimes.

Yugiohfan9: Aren't they, though? :3

OtEpShAmAyA: They wouldn't risk getting caught XD More on the way! :D

KingOresama: Bad internet connections suck D: mine gives me trouble pretty often, too. Thank you for reviewing :D

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Marik, Bakura, or any other character from YuGiOh. They all belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I make NO money off of this fic.

000

I paced around outside of school as I waited for Bakura to get out of detention. Ryou, Yami, and Thief waited with me, though they sat at a picnic table.

"Would you _relax_?" Yami wondered. "God, you act like he's giving birth in there."

I glared. "I'm just…" I started.

"Bored?"

"Well…kind of…"

The doors opened and Bakura walked out sluggishly. He spotted us and smirked, waving his hand slightly.

"How was it?" Thief wondered.

"The school lowlifes and trouble makers all gathered in one place to allegedly teach us a lesson, but only allows us to cause more hell then we do alone, because we're in a group." Bakura snorted.

"So…the same as always?" Thief wondered, cocking an eyebrow.

Bakura laughed. "Yeah, in simple terms. Same shit, different day."

"Happy to be out of there?" I wondered.

Bakura tapped a finger on his chin, mockingly lost in thought. "Well, I get to breathe fresh air, see you, get laid…yeah, I'm glad to be out." He winked at me.

I picked up a pebble from the ground and threw it at him. "Pervert."

"You two are planning to go have some fun?" Yami winked. "Perhaps we should all get lost, then."

"I'm staying at his place late." I explained. "We can all hang out for a bit, you know."

"Apparently, Marik wants it nice and dark when he has fun. Thief laughed. "Too scared to do it with the lights on?"

"N-No…we had the lights on the first…like five times…" I flushed.

Thief blinked. "You guys have had enough time to do it that much already? Damn. That's like once a day."

"Three times the first day." Bakura pointed out.

I wanted to die. No wonder his friends referred to me as 'Bakura's Boy Toy'.

"So I guess you want to try with the lights off this time then? And if there's daytime, there's daylight, so no chance of getting complete darkness there either." Yami rambled on.

"Marik, I knew you were in love with him, but god." Ryou laughed. "I didn't think you'd do it _that_ often!"

"And how often do you and Yami do it, hm?" I wondered.

"That's not your…"

"Every day. Sometimes twice." Yami sprouted off.

Ryou glared at him, but his boyfriend was looking over his nails and picking out imaginary dirt.

"And you think I put out easily?" I laughed.

"Pervert."

"Look who's talking."

"Now, I like talking about sex as much as the next teenage male, but come on, let's quit it." Thief stated. "Let's get out of here before someone hears us going on and on about it…and pick another topic."

"You're just mad because you're not getting laid anymore." Bakura accused as we started walking away.

"Who says I'm not?" Thief demanded.

Including myself, everyone but Thief stopped dead in their tracks.

"What?" I wondered.

"Who the hell are you seeing?" Bakura quirked an eyebrow.

"And why the hell didn't you tell us sooner?" Yami added.

"Because it's no one's business who I'm messing around with." Thief replied, stopping and turning to face us. There was a goofy grin on his face, and I had the distinct feeling that he was lying to us.

"_We_ tell you what _we_ do." Ryou pointed out.

"Well, _yes_, that may be. But she wants to remain anonymous."

"Did I hear that right?" I wondered. "_She_?"

"Yeah, you did."

"But you and Bakura…" Ryou looked between my boyfriend and Thief.

"He's bisexual, you idiots." Bakura rolled his eyes. "I thought the same thing until I saw his browser history."

"You were sleeping with Bakura and watching porn at the same time?" Yami laughed.

"S-Shut up!" Thief went beet red. "But yeah…so what? Anyway, she doesn't want to be named, and she goes to a different school anyway. So new topic."

"Let's just get out of here." I offered. "Where are we going? So we can meet up."

"Why meet up?"

"I'm not leaving my bike here at school."

"I forgot you had a license…" Thief muttered.

"Nowhere to go but the mall." Bakura shrugged one shoulder. "Unless you guys know somewhere better."

"We could go to the park or something."

"And do what? Play on the equipment like a bunch of pedophiles?"

"I miss the swings…" Ryou muttered.

"So do I."

Yami grinned. "Park it is then."

"Which one?" Ryou asked.

Everyone stared, not realizing there was more then one. Apparently only Ryou and I kenw there was more then one.

"The one across town. Shinjuku Prefecture Park?" I wondered. "It's old and mostly abandoned."

"Sounds good." Bakura smirked. "Let's get going." He took me by the hand and pulled me oof towards the bike rack to retrieve my motorcycle as the others went to Yami's car.

000

Watching Bakura and his friends chase each other around the playground and climbing onto playground equipment where they're not supposed to be climbing made me miss childhood. I used to play on the public playground with my friends all the time as a kid; with my siblings hanging around doing their old thing-hopscotch for Ishizu and the jungle gym or tether ball for Odion-, while my mother and not drunken father watched us romp around from afar. I recalled the smells of an Egyptian spring in the air as my friends and I played on the swings, ran around playing tag, climbing up the stairs for the slides, and even sliding down the firemen's poles that some of the sets came with. We didn't have this kind of thing in my backyard like some kids did, but even my friends would find it entertaining to leave the ones their parents had set up in their backyards to go to the public park to play with me and my best friend at the time, though I could hardly recall his name now. All I could remember was that he had dark hair and skin that matched my own tone. Or maybe I was remembering a young Odion. When the ice cream truck would go by-music playing a happy tune-, my friends and I would beg for ice cream until all of our parents gave in and let us get some. Then we'd sit on the stadium-style wooden seating area at one end of the park. Younger kids would run around and climb up and down the steps to escape their parents, which resulted in the occasional child getting a scraped knee and crying until their parents picked them up or they ran out of the energy to cry any more. We'd have picnics in the soccer fields and play pirate on the bleachers. Hide and seek in the twisting equipment with the holes to crawl through made it fun. One of my favorite was climbing on the tires that were planted firmly into the ground, sideways, and listening to Ishizu complain that I would get hurt as I danced across them. I never did get hurt, but she was always a worry wart. Odion would normally grab me off of them when Ishizu complained too much and annoyed him, but then we'd just come up with some horrible scheme to scare her even more; like climbing across the high sideways tire bridge that connected two sets of twisting equipment. We'd hide in the towers of the equipment and form chains to go down the slid; or race friends down the double slide until we declared one person in the group to be the winner.

Now, as I swayed lightly back and forth on the swing, I felt the wind in my hair and was taken back to those days more and more with each passing second.

"Lost in thought, Marik?" Ryou wondered from my side. He lightly dug his toe into the ground as he spun around on the swing.

"Just remembering things." I replied. "I went to the park a lot as a kid, with my friends, back before we moved here."

"Did you go at all once you moved here?"

"Yeah, a lot." I smiled. "Well, until I turned thirteen."

"Why?"

"That's when mom got sick, remember?"

"Oh, yeah…"

"She couldn't really leave and dad couldn't leave her alone, so he wouldn't take us." I shook my head. "We didn't do much after mom got sick…"

"How long was she sick?"

"Five days, that we knew of." I replied. "She died five weeks after we found out she was sick, though they gave her two weeks to live. Remember?"

"But how long was she sick in total?"

"A couple years." I shrugged one shoulder. "None of us knew. But if mom did, she didn't tell anyone. Didn't want us to worry."

"I'm sorry…"

"Can't undo the hands of time." I shrugged, though part of me was only doing so to fight back tears.

"Yeah…" He sensed my discomfort and stopped spinning himself, letting the swing twist back the right way to straighten the chains. "They're like a bunch of kids, aren't they?" He wondered, looking at the trio of bad boys.

"It's kind of cute, though. We normally only see them being tough, or causing trouble, or making terrible sex jokes."

Ryou laughed. "Yeah. A change of pace is always a good thing…thankfully we picked the older park no one goes to."

"I picked it on purpose."

"Yeah, less a chance of people seeing us."

"That's not what I was thinking, but okay."

"What were you thinking?"

"No one would look for us anyway, so people seeing us wouldn't really matter. I just didn't want them frightening small children."

Ryou laughed. "If I was a kid, they'd terrify me."

"Probably on purpose."

"Most likely."

"Son of a bitch!" Yami called from the tall slide.

We looked over to see him on the ground, with Thief and Bakura on top of him, laughing.

"Get _off,_ you assholes!"

"Make us." thief responded.

Yami tried to throw them off, but the two's combined weight was too much and he failed. Ryou and I shared a look.

"Should we help him?" Ryou wondered.

"Your call. He's your boyfriend." I shrugged.

Ryou sighed and stood. "Come on. let's save my boyfriend from your boyfriend and his ex boy toy."

I slapped his shoulder. "Jerk."

"For telling the truth?"

"For putting it that way." I laughed. "I'm sure Thief won't appreciate the terminology either."

"Haha, true."

The two of us walked over to Yami, who was still trying to throw his friends off of him, and the others.

"Come on, you guys, let him up." I ordered.

"Why would we do that?" Bakura wondered, folding his arms over his chest.

I folded my hands behind my back and bent down, grinning widely. "Because I'm cutting you off if you don't."

"You wouldn't dare."

"I would." I winked.

"I don't believe you."

"But do you really want to risk it?" I straightened my back as I winked.

"…No…" He stood and looked down at Yami. "You're lucky I like screwing him." Then he looked at me. "Not fair, Marik."

I laughed. "If you don't like it, you can always punish me later."

"By cutting you off too?" Bakura cocked an eyebrow.

"Are you serious?" My jaw dropped.

He laughed. "Oh, come on, now. That would punish _me_ as well."

Thief laughed. "Is all you two think about sex?" Thief wondered.

"Maybe if you were having some for real, you'd think about it more too." Yami offered.

Thief glared. "I _told_ you guys that I have a girlfriend…"

"No one believes you." Yami quickly arched his back, causing the distracted Thief to flop off and hit the ground.

"Oof…" Thief complained.

Yami stood and brushed dirt off his shirt. Ryou pulled him into a hug around the waist and smiled at me.

"Thanks, Marik." My best friend stated.

"You're welcome."

Bakura wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Alright, I'm bored. Let's go for food." He stated.

Ryou looked at his watch. "I can't. I have a curfew…"

"Alright." Bakura sighed."So we all split up here, I guess?"

"Why?" I wondered.

"Well I take it Yami has to bring him home. And unless Thief wants to watch them give one another a goodbye kiss, he'd come with us. and I don't think you'd be too keen on the idea of having one more person on your bike."

"It's only made for two…maybe if I had a side car…"

Thief glared. "Not on your life." He replied. "I'll settle for watching these two practically undress each other at the front door."

"I drop Ryou off a block before his house so his parents won't see us and freak out." Yami informed.

"Sounds like what Bakura would have to do if he had a license." Thief snickered. "I wouldn't want to deal with Ishizu when she finds out about them."

"With a little luck, she won't." Bakura informed.

"And neither will my dad." I shuddered and caught Ryou doing the same thing.

No one spoke for a minute.

"So, yeah, I guess we'll all just meet at my place, then." Bakura stated. "Unless Yami and Thief don't want to go."

"When do I ever _want_ to go home?" Thief wondered.

"Yeah, come on, Bakura, get real." Yami rolled his eyes. "Come on, thief. I'll bring you home, Ryou." He kissed his boyfriend's forehead. "We'll see you guys there!"

We watched them leave before Bakura turned to me and spoke again.

"Do you think we'll have time for a quickie before they get there?"

I smirked. "Possibly."

"Let's not waste any time then." He grabbed me by the hand and rushed me to my bike.

"Not eager, are you?"

"What do you think?" Bakura smirked. "Now come on, let's go. My place."

"Okay, okay." I put on my helmet and gave Bakura's the extra one. "Don't rush me."

"If we move too slow…"

"I'll make up for it later." I promised getting on my bike and starting it.

Bakura got on without saying a word and wrapped his arms tight around my waist in a hug. I didn't waste any time after he began holding onto me to zoom out of the parking lot and onto the main road.


	30. Lollipop Luxury

Dlbn: We're back!

Nbld: Sorry for the late update! We went to a convention after the last update and, well, it took a bit of time to get back into the groove of writing so to speak.

Dlbn: Right. But now we're back!

Nbld: Let's begin with the review corner! Thank you to Keilise, VampirePrinssess, lil-yugioh-sonic-fan, SilverBakura86, jadedNightmares, animelvr16, SilorDeathMoon, 13579Marik, and OtEpShAmAyA for reviewing! Convention swag for you all! *hands some out*

Keilise: You'll find out ;) *hands tissues*

VampirePrinssess: Bakura doesn't really seem to get the concept of a punishment only being for one person XD Yup, Thief is taken by a mystery woman ;) Aren't they just adorable? :3 Thanks!

Lil-yugioh-sonic-fan: Not impossible, apparently ;) Unless you're Bakura or the others that don't believe him. Hehe. Pervy Marik and Bakura are fun. But they need to know when to turn it down ^^"

SilverBakura86: Haha that they are! My friends and I went to the playground to hang out the day I wrote that chapter, so that was my inspiration XD I'd so love to see them playing together, though :3 Whether he is lying or not is for me to know and everyone to find out later ;) and everyone includes the main cast XD His life can only get better, now that he has Bakura in bed all the time ;) A day without distractions is just what they need. A break from how chaotic everything else is. Thanks! You stay awesome as well!

JadedNightmares: Glad you enjoy ^^ Don't worry, I'm a pervert too. After all, I wrote this ;) But I think pretty much everyone has a little perv inside them ^^ There will be more lemons in the future, of course ^^ Hope you enjoy!

Animelvr16: Glad you like! Another chapter coming up!

SailorDeathMoon: I'm glad you've been enjoying from the beginning! Welcome to the open air, my formerly silent follower ^^ Hope to hear from you again! Aw, thank you! :3

13579Marik: Glad you enjoyed! Yeah, his past started great, and then went downhill. But now he has Bakura, great sex, and great friends. Life can only get better ;)

OtEpShAmAyA: It's like they were meant to be friends all along ;)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own YuGiOh or anything/anyone from it! They belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I only own the plot! I make NO money off of this!

Warning: 100% Sex chapter, with a bit of humor and setup at the beginning. You've been WARNED

000

Once we got to Bakura's house, I discovered that we only had about half an hour before Yami would get to my house from Ryou's, since we weren't too far away from one another. Unfortunately for Bakura and me, that meant that what we wanted to go together either had to go by really quickly, or wait until after the others left. But judging by the hardness pressing into my lower back on the way over to my house from school, Bakura wasn't going to be able to wait. And nothing terrified me more at the moment then Yami and Thief either walking in on us, or having to tell them to wait while Bakura finished screwing my brains out; thus having them downstairs waiting and hearing every noise we made. Judging from what had happened the first time we went at it, Bakura and I would be pretty vocal and scar them for life. Or not, since it seemed everyone in the group was a sex pervert in one way or another.

"My room?" Bakura offered me a smirk as he took my hand and pulled me along before an answer could come from my lips.

"Um…Bakura…we don't really have enough time for sex…" I informed him.

He shrugged. "We can have a quickie." He informed, stopping and pulling me close to him.

I could feel his hardness pressing up against the bulge that was forming in my pants as well. I moaned before I caught myself doing so and closed my mouth for a moment or two as wave after wave of pleasure rushed over me.

"Unfortunately, due to the preparation necessary so that this doesn't entirely fuck me up…"

"I thought me fucking you up was the point?"

I ignored him. "This can't really be done in quickie format."

"Hm…I suppose so…" He toyed with my belt buckle. "Maybe we can do something else but still as gratifying, then?" He winked. "And save sex for after the guys leave?"

"Um…what do you have in mind?"

He smirked at me. "Come with me, and I'll show you." He leaned close to my ear and whispered, "That has two meanings."

I shudder involuntarily. "Are we gonna talk? Or are you going to take me upstairs before they get here?"

"What do you think?" He pulled me to and up the stairs into his bedroom.

Shutting the door behind me and locking it, it wasn't long before Bakura's lips were on mine and his fingers were playing with my shirt. Our lips moved together in sync as he walked me back towards his bed. The back of my knees came into contact with the mattress and I stumbled into a seated position. Bakura pushed me down so that I was lying on the bed and proceeded to remove my shirt. I captured his lower lip between my teeth as he began to pull away from me, eliciting a little moan from him until I released his lip so he could pull my shirt up over my head. I pulled his off before he had time to capture my lips in his. Without the dark cover of night, we were completely exposed to one another. I could see every tiny scratch I had left on his skin the other night, as well as a few scars that I hadn't noticed were there before. I paid no mind to it as his well toned arms wrapped around me and he pulled me into another kiss. I tangled the fingers of my left hand into his silvery hair as the other went around his neck. His tongue forced its way through my lips and began dancing alongside my tongue; purposefully avoiding mine and running his over each of my teeth and the roof of my mouth. I pulled him closer by his hair and forced my tongue under his to massage the muscles underneath. He moaned and pulled me closer by the waist to connect our hardening members. I felt him grind against me through my jeans and resisted the urge to come right on the spot. No, that wouldn't do. There was no way I was going to come just from being dry humped by him. Although our chests were rubbing and pressing together, it wasn't enough physical, flesh-to-flesh contact for me. After what we had done the night I slept over, it wasn't enough to just lay here like this anymore. This was a more after sex type of activity then satisfying enough to lose it on. I rubbed back against him, hooking a leg around his lower back to hold onto him. This made our members rub against each other even harder, causing us both to let out a sigh of enjoyment. His unoccupied hand drifted down between us both and grabbed my belt buckle. He pulled me closer by it as his fingers worked to undo the buckle. Once my belt was opened, he slipped the button of my jeans out of the little hole and pulled down my zipper. I didn't get much of a chance to try and get to his jeans, because his fingers slipped into my opened pants and pressed against the bulge forming in my boxers. I felt myself get harder at the touch and moaned; arching up against him and grinding his hand together between our pelvises. Before I could do anything else to elicit more moans from him, he pulled his hand from my jeans and began kissing a trail from the corner of my mouth down my neck, chest, and finally to my waistline.

"B-Bakura…" I moaned. "W-What are you doing?"

"You'll see." He nipped playfully at my stomach.

I thrust up against him, bumping his nose lightly against my belly button. He snickered, pushing me down onto the bed.

"Eager, are we?"

I smirked. "P-Perhaps…"

He chuckled and used one hand to pull down my jeans, while he pressed his mouth to my hardening member and moved his lips as though he were nibbling on it. I moaned and tried not to push up into his mouth. I could feel my boxers begin to come down with my pants, but he held them in place with his mouth as he removed my jeans. I bent my leg and pulled the jeans off on my own. While I did so, he pressed his tongue against my boxers and nipped at me. I moaned and my leg quickly fell to lie down on the bed again. He gripped my boxers' waistline in his teeth and looked up seductively at me. He smirked around the waistband and began pulling them down. I arched my back so he could remove the back side from my rear end as he pulled it down. My member sprung free quickly, making him snicker. Once my boxers were to my knees, he pulled them off with his hand and tossed them to the side. He came back up and kissed me, forcing his tongue into my mouth and pulling me close. I ground my hardened member against the inside of his leg as he pressed down. It hurt, but the friction made the pain seem muted and gave away to pure pleasure. Not really caring for finesse at this point, I opened up his jeans and pulled them down to expose his boxers. A slight wet spot was forming where his hardened member was pressed up against it. I chuckled a little as I gripped onto it with my free left hand. I used my right to pull his jeans off as I clenched and unclenched my other hand around his concealed member. He moaned and pulled me close, before helping me pull his pants off. Next were his boxers, which I wasted no time in pulling down to his knees so he could pull them off. His member sprang out and rubbed against my stomach as he ground down into me, rubbing his lower half up and down to make his cock move against me. I moaned as he reached down with one hand and took both our cocks in his hand. He played with my head, rolling the skin around with his fingers, before moving his hand quickly up and down both of our shafts at once; alternating between rough and light squeezes as he did so. I felt myself come close to the edge as he detached his lips from mine.

"B-Bakura…I'm…I'm gonna…"

He suddenly stopped and kissed my forehead. "No…not yet, love." He informed. "It's too soon."

"Kura, we don't have much time here…"

"Don't worry. I'll make you come soon enough." He winked. "But you have to help me as well, alright?"

I nodded.

"Good. Now lay on your side. And put one leg behind the other, not on top of one another."

"Um…okay…"

We separated and I watched him watch as I turned onto my side. My cock stood out at attention, making me flush. He looked me over, chuckling as he roughly grabbed my cock in his hand and gave it a couple soft tugs. I moaned as the motion made my balls lift slightly as well. his hand went from my tip down to the base, where his fingers teased my by playing gently with the blonde hair there. I moaned.

"B-Bakura…"

I was so close to the edge that I could've come right there. If he had continued what he was doing, that was. I watched curiously as he lay in the same position I was in, but with his head by my cock and his cock in my face.

"W-What are you…?"

"69." Bakura stated. "Ever hear of it?"

"Um…"

"I suck your dick while you suck mine." He informed, grabbing my shaft at the base. "Simple. But try not to lose rhythm when I get you close, alright?"

I couldn't say anything before he engulfed the tip in his mouth and sucked on the head. I moaned and grabbed his shaft. I moved my hand up and down it a few times before positioning it at my mouth. I took a deep breath and opened my lips just enough for my tongue to dart out and lap at the clear substance that was already forming a bead at his tip. He moaned as his head began moving up and down my shaft. His hand let go of it before he began rolling the flesh on my sack between his fingers in tune with his motions on the rest of me. I moaned and pulled him into my mouth. I ran my tongue on the muscle on the underside of his cock, making him thrust into my mouth. I nearly gagged but managed not to and continued moving my head up and down his shaft in an even rhythm.

I heard him moan as I felt my tip come into contact with his tonsils. It was then that I noticed he had taken my cock into his mouth all the way to the base. He moved his lips in a kiss against the blonde curls a few times before pulling back so only the tip was in his mouth; only to quickly engulf my entire shaft once more. I moaned at the sensation. He had sucked me off only a couple times before, but he'd never deep throated me like this. I lost my rhythm for a moment before I got it back. I decided to return the favor; going as far down his shaft as I could without gagging. I adjusted myself when I almost gagged so his cock went down at a new angle. After a few moments of getting used to it, I managed to be down to his base. I licked around the shaft with my tongue as my nose rubbed softly against small, silvery wisps of hair that surrounded his cock. My tongue slipped out from my mouth and went down to the little crevice between his balls. I ran my tongue through there while I moaned. The vibrations on his cock must have been too much because he pulled out of my mouth halfway and shot his load into my mouth with a long, deep moan. I swallowed as much of the salty fluid as I could as I came as well. My entire body shuddered as ribbon after ribbon of my own cum flooded his mouth. I felt him swallow against me and moaned. Once both of us were spent, we pulled off of one another. I flipped onto my back, panting, as I licked excess fluid off of my lower lip. Bakura panted for a couple moments before he sat up. He smiled down at me.

Neither of us said a word as he lay next to me. I curled onto his chest and threw my leg over his; accidentally brushing against his member.

"Careful." Bakura muttered. "If I get hard again, you owe me another blow job before the guys get here."

I chuckled. "Same to you." I rubbed up against his leg and he lightly pushed me back a bit.

"I'm serious, Marik. You have no idea what you do to me."

"I can guess."

He laughed and started to speak again, but the doorbell rang.

"Ugh, they're here." He complained.

"We can always have fun once they leave." I winked.

He chuckled. "True. After all, we didn't get to do it like we wanted to…"

I nodded and kissed his chest, near his right nipple. "I love you, Bakura."

"I love you, too." He titled my head up to his and pressed a gentle kiss to my lips.

I kissed back for a moment before we pulled apart and got dressed to go greet the guests downstairs.


	31. Angel of Darkness

Dlbn: Holy shit it's been forever! :O

Nbld: Soooo sorry about the lack of updates! New job and shit, you know?

Dlbn: So let's not waste anymore time.

Nbld: Right! Live from my boyfriend's house, it's the Review Corner! Thank you to SilverBakura86, lil-yugioh-sonic-fan, VampirePrinssess, Guest, SailorDeathMoon, and 13579Marik for reviewing! Cookies and cakes for you all! :D

SilverBakura86: Aw thanks! (Hehe thank you ^^) They like to be cuddly afterwards, I guess tehe I had a great time, despite all the craziness and the drama! Thanks :) You stay awesome too! :3

Lil-yugioh-sonic-fan: Thanks, I'm glad you liked ^^ I was a little apprehensive to write it, but now I'm glad I did ^^ Omg I didn't even think of them doing that XD but it would have been epic XD

VampirePrinssess: Glad you enjoyed! (*Marik blushes*. Marik:T-Thanks…)

Guest: *hands tissues*

SailorDeathMoon: Glad you enjoy. Haha hopefully she never checks her browser history ;) Viva la resistance! :3

13579Marik: Well, Bakura will have to fix _that,_ now, won't he? ;)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Marik, Bakura, or anyone from the YuGiOh franchise! I do however own one character, but I won't reveal who it is yet, cuz I don't wanna spoil the chapter ;)

Warning: Contains a sex scene, and the last two scenes hint at non-con. Reader discretion is advised

000

After two hours of Bakura's friends practically thrashing his apartment, Bakura not caring, and me attempting to clean but being told no by Bakura, Thief and Yami finally left the two of us alone. Of course, we only had about an hour left together, but we could make the most of it. Bakura made sure that the door was locked before pulling me upstairs with him. For good measure, he locked his bedroom door before turning to me and pulling me close to him to kiss me. Our lips met and a spark flew through my body. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he walked me back to the bed; unbuttoning me jeans and removing my belt as he did so. I moaned into his mouth as his hand slipped down into my pants to wrap around my hardening member. He smirked against my lips as his free hand pulled open his belt and slipped his jeans down a little bit as well. I pulled them down the rest of the way as his hand began dancing softly up and down my shaft. Both of us moaned as I arched against him and rubbed my groin up against his. He pulled from me and placed a peck on my lips before removing his shirt. While he did that, I took mine off as well. Following his lead once again, I pulled down my jeans and boxers until my member sprang out. I hissed as it hit the cold air, making Bakura chuckle as he took his pants and boxers off as well. With both of us completely naked once again, as we hadn't bothered to put on socks after the last time, Bakura pushed me back onto the bed and climbed on top of me. He ground down as he kissed me; contacting both of our hardened shafts and making me moan loudly. He chuckled against my lips as he ground against me again. in retaliation, I did the same back up towards him. When we moved at the same time, we connected instantly and moaned.

"I love you." Bakura stated.

"I love you, too." I agreed.

He offered me his fingers. "Mind?"

I shook my head as I slipped out my tongue and used it to guide the digits into my mouth. I sucked hard on them and danced my tongue around and between each of them. He moaned and ground against me, kissing my forehead before leaning down to latch onto my neck. I moaned against his fingers as I used my saliva to slicken them up. Once he felt satisfied with it, he pulled his fingers from my mouth with a 'pop'. He chuckled and pressed his lips to mine as his hand went down to my member and past to my backside. He used his non-saliva-coated hand to angle me for easier access. I wrapped my arms around his neck and used my feet to hold myself up a bit so he could do what he needed to do. One finger prodded lightly at my entrance, making me shiver from the cold of my saliva rubbing against the warmth of my flesh. He chuckled against my lips as his tongue slowly slipped between my lips and rubbed against my own. His finger slipped into my entrance and he pumped it in and out slowly. After a little while, he slipped in another finger and spread them as he pumped in and out. I groaned and pulled from his lips to toss my head back.

"B-Bakura…!" I moaned. "Damn, that feels so…_good_!"

He leaned down to my ear. "Just wait until I'm done stretching you." He whispered. "Since I know how much you _love_ having my rock hard cock inside of you."

I moaned and pressed down against his fingers. His hand stilled for a few moments before he began to pick up the pace.

"Ah…fuck…" He moaned. "Forget how much you love it, I can't wait much longer…"

"So don't." I muttered.

He smirked and pulled his fingers out of me, making me moan at feeling so empty again.

"B-Bakura…"

"Relax." Bakura pulled my one leg up to his side.

I pulled my other leg up and crossed my ankles behind his back. He chuckled.

"You might want to let me loose so I can put myself inside you, you know. I can't move much like this."

"Sorry."

I dropped one of my legs and he pulled back from me. Grabbing his own dick in his hand, he positioned himself at my entrance and easily slipped in; the saliva that he had used to put his fingers inside of me aiding his entrance. I wiggled a bit to get used to the feeling of having something so big inside of me, before wrapping my legs around him and crossing my ankles at his lower back. Before I could say anything to him, he began pumping in and out of my slowly. My fingers dug into his back.

"B-Bakura…!" I moaned. "F-Faster…!"

He complied with my request, snapping his hips to and away from my own quicker then he had before.

"D-Damn, Marik…you have no idea…how good it feels…having you wrapped around me like this!" He groaned as I began pushing against him in sync with his own movements.

Our hips contacted and I saw sparks explode behind my eyes. I couldn't help but wonder if Bakura felt the same thing as he continued to press in and out of me in a steady, quick pattern.

"M-Marik…I'm gonna…"

"Me too…" I felt blood pool in my member as I spoke.

With a few more final thrust into me, Bakura's cock expanded a little and I felt warmth fill me as he moaned my name. I moaned back to him and came as well; splattering over our chests. When we were both spent, I let my legs down and he pulled out of me. Bakura flopped down at my side and I curled onto him. Both of us were panting heavily.

"I love you…" He whispered, pulling me close.

"I love you, too." I agreed, kissing his chest near his nipple.

He chuckled and threaded his fingers through my hair. I nuzzled him and felt my eyes begin to slip close.

"I'm…I'm gonna fall asleep…"

"Okay." he nodded, kissing the top of my head. "I don't want you riding home if you're tired, anyway, so sleep here, okay?"

"But Odion and Ishizu…"

"Would say the same."

I couldn't argue with that. "Okay…good night, Bakura…"

"Night Marik."

I let out a yawn and let my eyes close. My mind shut down and I drifted off into sleep.

000

I woke up around 5 am that morning. Noting that Bakura was still asleep, and still holding me close to him, I smiled softly. I slipped out from under his arm and grabbed my jeans to pull them on as coverage for my cold legs. I wanted to check my cell phone for calls from my brother or sister, but then remembered that I didn't have one and lay back down with my boyfriend. I snuggled against him, and he didn't even wake up. He did, however, pull me even closer. I sighed in content and let my eyes slip closed once again. Hopefully for the rest of the night.

000

Ishizu cornered me at school early that morning; accusations flying out of her mouth.

"You could've been hurt! Or _killed_! What is _wrong_ with you?!" She glared, frustrated by my lack of a response. "Do you even know what you put Odion and me through? Dad is going to _kill_ you! He's _pissed_! Odion tried to calm him down and dad hit him. You are _so_ inconsiderate! Did you even _think_ about us?!"

"Sorry, Ishizu." I told her softly. "I wasn't really thinking of anything other then needing sleep. Being fucked twice in one day will really tire out a guy."

I swear she let out a screech that broke the Richter scale. My sister covered her mouth with both hands.

"Y-You mean you…a-and B-Bakura…? You two had s-s…"

"Of course not!" I flushed. "God, what do you think I am? A whore? Yeah, I know I find him attractive and want to screw him senseless, but I have self restraint, you know."

Ishizu glared. "Not _funny_, Marik! Where _were_ you all night? With that little delinquent?"

"That _delinquent_ happens to be my friend." I folded my arms over my chest.

"_Ryou_ is your friend. Bakura is the guy you want to fuck."

"Point?" My eyebrow rose. "That doesn't mean that we can't be friends…for now." I smirked.

"You slept at his house…but you didn't do anything stupid? You didn't admit your feelings to him?"

"My feelings are my own." I informed. "The only ones who know are the ones who knew already about it."

"Good." Ishizu nodded. "_Keep_ it that way. He'll just use you if he knows the truth."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't think so."

She sighed. "Love has blinded you, Marik." She informed. "Just…be prepared to deal with dad when you get home. He is _not _happy that you went missing again." She rubbed her left shoulder as if remembering something. "Trust me."

"Okay." I nodded, swallowing hard.

I could face it.

I could take it…

Oh, how I wished Bakura could just live with me…

000

I would rather get attacked by a pack of wolves that hadn't eaten in three months then go home and face my dad when I messed up and he was pissed about it and/or drunk…most likely _and_. But I knew it had to be done. I couldn't hide forever. I gave Bakura a kiss goodbye, fearing that it would be the last time I did so. I had his number written down on a sticky note that I put on the inside of my motorcycle helmet, so if I could get away and get to a pay phone, then I could call him for help. I rode home on my bike, filled with dread and fear. But I couldn't let either emotion, especially the fear, show on my face when I got home. I schooled my features as I turned off my bike and checked to make sure the sticky note was in place when I took off my helmet. The last thing I needed to do was lose that. it was my saving grace in an emergency at this point. I heard Ishizu scream from inside the house and gathered my courage. I had no idea what he was doing to her, or why he was doing it, but maybe someone else coming in would stop…no…who was I kidding? He'd go after me too. I pushed open the door to our house to see my father pinning my sister to the couch. One of his coworkers sat on the couch as well, running a hand up and down my sister's thigh. I recognized him as the pervert from the mall and began praying to whatever god would listen that Bakura would come over to give me something I left at his house. I didn't want to have to face my dad or his friend alone. I knew I wouldn't survive.

"I-I'm home…" I greeted softly, so as to not startle either of the drunks.

"Well, well, well." My father sneered. "Looks like the prodigal son has returned." He hiccupped as he got of off Ishizu and stumbled to his feet.

Tsuki's hand on my sister's leg was the only thing stopping her from moving, though I knew she would have punched him in the face if she could have.

"What do you think you're doing here, you little shit? Hm?" His father prattled on angrily. "You didn't come home last night. Out messing around with your little boy toy again?"

"I-I fell asleep at Bakura's." I informed softly. "I had to go over for the punishment from school."

"So you like punishment?" Tsuki's eyes gleamed as he spoke. "I guess you and your little friend had some fun, didn't you?"

"No." I shook my head. "We're just friends."

"Bullshit!" My dad roared, stumbling over to me and grabbing me by the collar.

I saw pure rage in his eyes and tried to hide my fear, but I didn't do a good job of it.

"Hmph." That was the only warning I got before my father punched me in the gut.

I grabbed at my stomach and crumpled to the ground when he let me go. My eyes darted to Ishizu to tell her to keep quiet. I almost flew over to the couch when I noticed Tsuki's hand on her breast, but my father was in the way so I couldn't. I hear Ishizu whimper out of fear and try to push Tsuki away, but he pressed her to the couch and held her there.

"L-Let her go!" I ordered him.

I was rewarded by my father tipping my chin up with his one foot before using the same foot to kick my face. I reeled back and threw my arms up to defend myself as my father landed a punch into my left arm. He grabbed it and twisted it behind my back, making me cry out.

"Look what you've gone and made me do, Marik, and in front of _guests_?" My father tsked at me, making Tsuki smirk. "Worthless little brat! If you would only _behave_, this wouldn't have happened!"

I didn't reply as my father hit me again. I spit out blood onto the floor, which earned me a tug on my now sore arm and a slap across the face.

"Don't make a mess!" My father ordered. "Be a man and take your punishment!"

When I didn't reply, he shoved me to the ground.

"Stupid, worthless, spoiled little brat!" My father spat at me, and it landed on my cheek. He looked to Ishizu. "And as for _you_." He sneered. "Can't you do anything right?! Dropping and breaking glasses all over the place. They're not _yours_ to break, you know! Have more respect for other people's things!"

"I think she knows a little better now." Tsuki informed my father. "We've had such a lovely talk while you were disciplining that problem child over there." He winked at me. "She understands that she's breaking other people's property, and that she needs to be disciplined for that. I saw you let _me_ do it." He grabbed Ishizu's one hand and forced it somewhere it shouldn't go. "After all, you've got your own issues to deal with right now, don't you?"

My father nodded drunkenly. "You're right, I do. Between work and this right here," He kicked me in the side for good measure, I'm a very busy man." He rubbed his chin in thought. "You can deal out the punishment then."

"Good." Tsuki stood, pulling Ishizu with him.

When her hand fell from where he had placed it, he grabbed it and forced it back between his legs. "Feel that?" He wondered. "Such a naughty little girl. Provoking these kinds of things." He smirked. "But we can take care of that."

"No!" Ishizu tried to pull away, but he forced a kiss onto her.

I stood shakily. "G-Get your hands _off_ of her." I ordered.

"What did you say, you little brat?" My father was ready to strike me again.

"Punish me instead." I ordered. "After all, I'm the reason you got beat up…"

Tsuki seemed to consider it for a moment, then he let my sister go and pushed her back onto the couch. She sprawled out there, watching me with a shocked look on her face.

"I think you have a point there, Marik." Tsuki hiccupped and offered me his hand. "Come and accept your punishment. You seem to enjoy the one the school puts out."

I walked over to him but stopped at my sister's side. "Bakura's phone number is on a sticky note on the inside of my helmet. Call him the moment you get the chance and tell him I'm in danger." I whispered. "Got it?"

She nodded slowly. "T-Thank you…"

"N-No worries…an easy decision…" I took Tsuki's hand and almost vomited, but allowed myself to be taken down the hall.

Tsuki pulled me into a back bedroom that no one used and shoved me into it. I fell to the floor on my hands and knees. Before I could get up or respond in any other way, I felt him press his foot into my back so I was laying flat on the floor. He held me there and kneeled down.

"I thought you weren't interested, boy." He whispered, his voice dark. "Or did you finally get sick of being alone? Want to know what it's like to be with a man and be treated like one?" He chuckled. "Or maybe you're so frustrated with your feelings towards your little silver haired friend there, that you figured you had better use the energy for something else…for someone you already _know_ is interested?"

"T-That's not…not it…" I muttered, though being pressed down like I was made it hard for me to breathe, let alone talk.

"Then what is it? Come to terms with the fact that I'm the only one who's ever gonna want to fuck you, hm?" He ran his hand down my back and squeezed my ass.

"N-No…I did it…to protect my sister…"

He laughed and flipped me over so I was facing him. I didn't close my eyes out of fear of what he'd do if I did.

"How very _noble_ of you." He told me. "But, you know damn well that you interfering won't be enough to save her. Who says I'll be satisfied with just you?" He smirked. "You're lucky I didn't tell your father that I'd punish both of you at once. Though, for all I know, you might like it."

"Never…I'll never like anything that has to do with you, or that bastard that I share DNA with!"

He slapped me. "Your father has done a _lot_ for you and your sibling, and you ungrateful little brats never even give him a _thank you_. And what do you do, hm? Go missing two separate nights without even a call home? How inconsiderate…uncaring even."

I didn't reply to that. Maybe I should've called. But like I told my sister; sex twice in one day takes a lot out of you. Tsuki's hand wandered down my chest to my belt, which he popped open with a flick of his wrist. I felt my mind shut down to block out what was going to happen. I couldn't believe it…it looked like Bakura wasn't the only one getting something from me this night.

000

When I came to again, Tsuki was on the ground in a heap a few feet away from me and my head was on someone's lap. I forced my eyes open and looked up to see Bakura watching me. He had a little bit of blood on his cheek from a cut, and more on his lip. He ran a hand down the side of my face.

"Are you alright, Marik?" He wondered. "You've been out cold for a while."

"B-Bakura?" I wondered. "Did…Did Ishizu call you?"

He nodded. "She said you needed me, so I rushed right over." He stated. "Good thing I did." He snarled at the blonde that was unconscious on the floor. "If I was a second later, he would have…"

"So…he didn't…didn't r…"

"No." Bakura shook his head. "He was…doing something to you, though…" He shuddered.

I reached a hand up to his face and he held it there, closing his eyes. I smiled softly. "T-Thank you…" I stated.

"Of course, love." He replied, kissing my forehead. "I think we should get out of here. Your father was passed out when I got here, and I don't know how long this one will stay unconscious."

"But…Ishizu…Odion…"

"Odion took your sister to Mai's house. It's just us, Thief, and Yami here." Bakura stated. "I wouldn't let Yami tell Ryou because I didn't want any more trouble. Or for him to get hurt too."

"W-Where are they?"

"Watching that bastard you call your father." Bakura frowned. "I could kill him for letting this happen…"

I sighed. "Please, not tonight…"

"Alright, alright." Bakura stated. "Come on, let's get going."

"Did you come in Thief's car?"

"I ran here the moment I got off the phone with Ishizu. She wouldn't ever call me unless it was an emergency. And she doesn't have my number, so I knew she got it from you. I just wanted to get here as fast as possible so no one would hurt…"

I leaned up and kissed him; holding him to me with a hand on the back of his neck. I pulled away after a few moments.

"My knight in shining armor." I giggled.

"And don't you ever forget it." He smirked.

"I won't."

He kissed me again before helping me sit up, and then get on my feet. I let Bakura lead me into the living room, where Thief and Yami were watching my dad. The old man had passed out on the floor, and Yami found it appropriate to poke him with a baseball bat like he was a dead body.

"What are guys doing?" I wondered.

"Is he oaky?" Thief asked Bakura.

"He's fine. I can't say the same about the bastard from the mall that I caught trying to violate him…" Bakura snorted.

"Why the bat?" I asked.

"We were ready to bust some skulls in for you." Yami replied, swinging the bat in midair like he was hitting a ball.

"Well, Bakura was, but I took the bat from him so he won't get weapons charges." Thief informed. "And Yami took the bat from me because we didn't have a stick to poke him with."

"He's not a dead body." I stated. "Why poke him?"

"If that bastard in the other room had hurt you, this one would be as good as dead." Bakura growled. "I still want to go bust that one's head in, but I won't."

"O-Oh…thank you, you guys…" I stated slowly.

"Just doing our job as your friends." Thief nodded. "Now come on, let's go to Bakura's place."

I nodded. "Um…I can't leave my bike here…I don't know what dad will do to it if I do…"

"I'll ride with you." Bakura stated. "Yami, Thief, follow us behind in the car?"

"You got it." Yami nodded, giving him a thumb up.

Bakura shook his head and escorted me to my bike. "Let's go. Be careful."

"I will be." I nodded.

I started up the bike and the two of us climbed on. Once I was sure we were both safe and comfortable, I took off. I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't shown up when he did.


End file.
